Dark Heavens
by FireflyAFI
Summary: The Evil of Evils has been summoned from the Pit itself, & the BR crew is mankind's last hope. Globe trekking, humor, intrigue, OC's, shocks galore, & even a little romance. Revolves around Shina, Yugo, Long, and their friendship. All you need now is pie.
1. Disclaimer

I do not by any means own the Bloody Roar series, this is just a take on the characters' lives after the fourth game. The few Original Characters you see are mine, but hey, I can't really claim them as they were made up specifically for a fanfiction story. Just read the story and have fun, and if you care to leave me a review. Oh, and also just so you know if you're a fan of the whole Jang theory you're not going to like that aspect of this story. I do think Yulice and Keniko lovers will be satisifed. Oh and Alenny people will probably get a little pissed at me too, though the Stenny people...hmm...well they shouldn't get hopeful for hot bug on bat action but, yeah...anyways just read the story.


	2. Heartbreaker

"Shit do you _ever _get used to this heat?" a young brunette asked the man beside her. Both of them were kneeling at the base of an ornately carved, and very old, temple in the jungles of a remote South Pacific Island. She stood, dropping her dusting brush to the ground, to swat a mosquito for what seemed to be the millionth time that morning.

Her partner, a slightly older archeologist by the name of Paul, gave her a wry grin as he shook his head. Newbies fresh from the campus always had trouble adjusting to the real thing. He remembered his own transition from the University geology labs to his first assignment of a tomb in ancient Tibet. It wasn't a pretty memory, but it helped him understand just what his own overseer, Dr. Phelps, had meant when he'd told Paul "You have the sickening optimism of a sacrificial volunteer".

"Take it easy, Dana," he told her with a chuckle, he reached in his pack and pulled a canteen out, offering it to the grad student.

"I'm sorry," Dana apologized taking the canteen, shame covering her olivine features. She was one of the better students, he decided right then, if she had the common sense to know she was acting too childish for her occupation. "I–I guess I didn't expect it to be so–so–"

"Tedious?" Paul offered, smiling at her.

"Well that too," she joked before taking a drink out of the canteen. She wiped her mouth off carelessly with the back of her less than pristine hand. She didn't seem to care about it that much, as she just took the hem of her shirt to her lips as extra cleanup. Paul found himself impressed, she wasn't as prissy as he'd been thinking since she'd arrived two days ago.

"No, man, I just hoped that I would be doing something significant for the world with my work," Dana explained to him as she picked up her brush once more and began to clean off her side of the temple door.

"You got in it for fame?" he asked raising his eyebrow at the woman, not so sure he was impressed any more.

"No, nothing like that!" Dana said quickly, holding up her hands in emphasis. "I don't give a damn about my name in the papers or history books, I'd think that'd be kinda stressful. I just you know–wanna do something that'll help the rest of humanity..." Brown eyes met blue and they both started to chuckle.

"Cheesy I know, but you gotta admit it'd be nice," she chuckled, leaning against the door. "But seriously, Paul–Ah!" Dana screamed and was cut short as the spot she was lying against gave way, like a sort of button.

"Dana, get up!" Paul exclaimed grabbing his young assistant roughly by the arms and dragging her away from the doors.

"Shit!" she whispered feebly as the marble tiles beneath there feet began to quiver. Dana clung to Paul's shirt as he dragged her away from the doors. They knelt at the entrance's farthest corner, Dana still holding onto Paul for dear life as he covered her head and his own from the debris that had comm loose off the temple roof. Both shut their eyes tight, waiting for the moment to pass and praying for their lives, Dana apologizing between fearful cries. The little shake up didn't last very long, maybe a quarter of a moment, though it felt like an eternity for the two archaeologists, and when they fearfully opened their eyes, Dana and Paul found that the temple doors had opened...and their was a light coming from inside.

The two archeologists let go of one another, standing to their feet very slowly. The stared in awe at their subject for several long and pregnant moments, meanwhile, the light continuing to throb like it was coming off a distant star. Paul was the first to regain motor skills, and he crept forward, inching carefully towards the doors.

"P–Paul–I–I don't–I don't think that–we–" Dana stammered still half petrified as she watched her partner edge closer to the doors and the light, which for some reason terrified her.

"Hush!" Paul barked waving her off and making his young assistant shake all the more. Paul didn't yell at her, she may not have known him very long but in the last week she'd come to understand that he was not the yelling or angry type in the slightest. She quivered, and shrank further towards the temple's edge whilst Paul stepped directly before its doors. The light's pulse quickened.

"Amazing..." Paul breathed as he looked into the chamber, he was nearly blinded by all he saw, the brilliance before his him sending the man to his knees. The Universe, black and velvety, studded by stars, planets, and countless galaxies swirling and churning about in an almost sensual dance overpowering his mortal senses. He smiled as the dance came to an end and SHE stepped out, naked, beautiful. It was HER smile that killed him, the full beautiful blood-red lips that parted in a grin revealing all of the pain and the pleasure of destruction and death. Paul was smiling into her blacker– than–black eyes even as his heart exploded within his chest.

Dana screamed, screamed until she had no breath left, finding herself unable to do anything else, she couldn't cry, she couldn't speak, she was unable to find solace in the black of unconsciousness. Seeing Paul's corpse, falling lifelessly against the ground, blood oozing from his still upturned lips, robbed the twenty-two-year-old of the ability to do nothing but scream until her throat burned. The last thoughts that went through her head, before her own heart burst against her ribs, was that she had pretty much failed the world in terms of helping its people. In fact, it seemed, as HER laughter rang through the jungle, scaring birds and wildlife off for miles on end, that Dana had accomplished the direct antithesis of her motives.

On another continent, a young woman almost the exact same age as Dana, agreed with her, as she woke up from her nightmare, shivering with cold sweat and fear, sky-blue eyes open wide.

**Interlude**

Shina Gado sat up in bed, biting down hard on her tongue to keep from making any noise. The coppery taste of blood swarmed her mouth, though she relaxed in the pain and the taste. It was only a dream. She allowed herself to part her lips and take in a nice deep breath of air. The young mercenary took a moment to collect herself, still her twitching muscles and run her slender and calloused finger through her matted, sweat-soaked, hair. She let the air from her lungs.

_Just a dream_, she thought, and then, remembering that she wasn't exactly alone, glanced to her right, to the man laying naked beside her. Shina then looked at the bed side clock; it read a few minutes after five thirty in the am.

_Good timing for a nightmare_, she chuckled inwardly, before sliding her nude form from beneath the sheets of her new acquaintance's bed. She was stealthy, as if she was trying to creep after an enemy in the Brazilian Jungle or making her way from one safe point to another, as she collected her scattered clothes, and put them on. She got on her underwear, her black tank, her black cargo pants, saving her combat boots and socks for the hallway, and just shoving her bra into one of the many, many pockets she had. A quick check to confirm he wallet was in her back pocket, and she was out of the apartment. Shina smiled as she hopped down the hall, pulling her socks and boots on as she went, she was really, _really, _good at this one night stand shit.

Shina tried to act like her usual sarcastic self, promoting it even further within her mind by saying little biting remarks to herself even as she hailed a cab. Despite the attempts though, she found herself still somewhat shaken by the dream, a highly unusual thing for a seasoned Merc like herself. She sighed leaning back into her seat, still trying to convince herself that there was nothing unusual about her nightmare, and that she needed to stop acting like a five year old. The hair on the nape of the leopardess' neck continued to stay raised, as she felt eyes going over her back. Shina would not indulge her fears and look through the rear window, a good thing too as the eyes and face staring at her from the car behind her cab would have only brought the very violent side of her nature out. The side she tried very hard to keep under lock and key in a place like Manhattan. So Shina settled for swearing at her subconscious and deciding to go to and visit Long, the former hermit and one of her closer confidants would knock some sense into her, particularly if she could convince him to spar.

**Interlude**

As if he heard her thoughts the driver of the tailing car decided that the time was to leave. He fell back, just as Shina decided to give in, and looked over her shoulder. The driver smiled as he narrowly escaped her piercing baby blues. He passed a hand through his shaggy black and blue hair, wondering if he had gone mad with this fixation with Gado's child. He hoped he had not, after all, he'd promised himself that anything and everything he established for himself at this point was going to be honest and open. Still, the young man smiled as he parked his car, he loved to chase his "kitten", though he vowed that, one day, she would know everything. All between them would be up front, very soon, he promised himself. He was starting over after all.

Violet eyes closed as he continued to smile, mind flooded with pictures of her.

**Interlude**

"So then all parts are falling together?" a cool and arrogant voice asked Busuzima as the two of them plus another looked over the temple.

"Your lady rose, so, I guess so," the scientist said, he licked his lips with his long, grotesque tongue. He could smell the fun in the air. "What now, Xion?"

"Now we manipulate the right people to give aid to the EATEN ONE," Xion said with a rather arrogant flip of his hair. He smiled, red eyes agleam. "Just think, soon, we'll have a world built upon glorious chaos."

"And have a hand in ruling it," Busuzima chuckled in agreement. The cohorts smiled at one another.

"Shall we get to the launch pad then, my friends?" Shenlong asked. "I'm sure it will have it ready by now."

"We shall," Busuzima agreed, and they walked away from their plateau overlooking HER domain, smiling as only those who know the whole story can smile. SHE joined in.


	3. Table Talk

"So I take it she's still not answering your calls then?" a tall curvaceous blonde asked the man across from her, also with rather fair hair. They were sitting in a nice Parisian restaurant, holding their conversation in English, so that they were less likely to have their subject given away.

The man, he went by Alan Gado, usually just Gado, looked at the woman over his glass of wine, with a raised bushy eyebrow. "Are you really going to make me answer that, Jenny?" he asked with that one little motion. His date sighed and put down her fork very delicately after wiping it off. Not like she'd been eating that much of her salad in any case.

"Well, what did Yugo and Long say?" she questioned. "Is she all right? What's she been doing for the last three months in Manhattan?"

"Yugo says she rented a small condo between his and Kenji's apartment complex and Long's dojo," Gado told her. He too pushed his barely used fork to the side of the rich lacquered dining table. "He won't tell me any more, she forbid him too."

"Did you ask him if he _always _has to listen to her?" Jenny asked, her eyes alight with a fire he almost dreaded to see, as she twisted the napkin in her hands.

"No because I really don't want to put the kid in the middle of it," he said, calmly. "He's my godson and one of the very few friends _she _has. I'm not going to ask him to spy for me when she's asking him to help hide her, it's not fair to Yugo. And no, before you ask, I'm not going to try Mitsuko, Alice, or Long either." He met Jenny's wrathful eyes without flinching. They remained that way for several moments before Jenny finally looked away, sadness ringing in her impeccable green eyes. Gado frowned and reached across the distance between himself and the former model to take her hand.

"We can't force her to accept anything form us, Jen," he whispered gently, blue eyes only bearing the truth for her. "The more we goad Shina, the less chance we have of her ever communicating with us again. Trust me, I know, I raised her for the last sixteen years."

Jenny sighed, drawing her hand away. "I know you're right, Gado," she said looking down and away, staring thoughtfully into the folds of her blood red evening gown. "I–I just never expected her to react like this."

"Well if you expected her to act happy, then I have to tell you that you were delusional, _Cherie_," he said, the truth biting her despite the fact Gado was being kind. "You can't have news like this thrown on you so fast and come to terms with it in a day–or even two months." He added the last few words on quickly as Jenny looked up at him, ready to make a retort. "Not Shina, she's not like that. My little girl is five things for certain, she's strong; she never ceases to make me wonder; she's more clever than any young lady her age ought to be; she's temperamental to the core; and she is a complete internalizer of all her emotional problems. Shina doesn't talk things over to anyone besides herself, she just muses over a problem, then she acts with her guts. And her gut obviously said that she needed to get away for a time, she want's to be alone and we..." Gado's eyes were sad, almost forlorn, "we have to accept that. She's a grown woman."

Again the bat zoanthrope looked away from her date's piercing eyes, and to her dress. Gado wished more than anything in the world, that he could hear what she was thinking. Finally Jenny stood.

"Thank you for the evening, Alan," she said, sweeping back her skirts as she faced him, preparing to walk out. "Really, talking about her...it helped...quite a bit. You'll call me at once if any more information is relayed to you?"

"You know I will, _Cherie_," he said, wishing that the dinner didn't have to end on such a melancholy note. He took Jenny's hand and planted a kiss on the palm. "She'll be okay, Jenny," he tried to reassure her one final time before she left. "Shina just needs to cool off, maybe for a bit, but she'll come home eventually, then the three of us can discuss all of this like adults. You'll see, I know my daughter."

Jenny looked down at him, the sadness still pulsing within her emerald irises. "I wanted to," she whispered softly before rushing, very gracefully, out of the restaurant. Gado watched her go, the heaviness in his heart something he hadn't dealt with in an incredibly long time. He snapped his fingers for the waiter, instructing the man to bring him his bill, before reaching in his jacket pocket to take out his wallet.

_I take it back_, he thought as he opened up the worn hunk of black leather and his eyes found the only photo he had of his daughter as a real child. Before she'd hardened up, before the spiky hair, before the tough talk, and before she'd started work, his little girl. _I'd give anything to know what _you _were thinking right now, ma fifille._

He looked the fading picture, of a then seven year old Shina, over, that face with the crystalline blue eyes full of laughter, the light blonde hair long enough for her to wear in pigtails, and the coveralls. Gado had not been the best fatherly influence he could have been, in fact, when he thought about the line of work he'd gotten her into, the danger he's put her in at certain points in her life, and his more recent faux pas, he shuddered. He really would've found it more than a little plausible for him to get the "worst father on the planet" award. But despite all of his short comings, Gado loved his daughter more than life itself, he would do anything for her, go anywhere in the world for her, he would die just so that Shina could take one more gasp of air. But what could he do when his little girl didn't even want to be near him? Gado swallowed hard before grabbing the appropriate amount of cash and handing it over to the waiter, stuffing his wallet away in his jacket once more. He walked out as quickly as he could.

**Interlude**

Shina made it to Long's dojo around six, she had no doubts wether he'd be awake so early, she knew for a fact that the guy rose at four o'clock in the morning to meditate before the morning meal. Just in case she interrupted anything though, Shina had stopped and picked up a little gift. Long was a total sucker for this green chai mix that you could only buy from Starbucks at certain times of the year, and being that he was still somewhat of a recluse (Yugo and she had to practically drag him out sometimes) he was unsure when those times were.

His dojo looked like it did every time since Shina had started visiting it three months ago. The outside was out of style for suburban New York but not so outlandish that you could call it one of a kind. A Chinese style sloping roof painted black over a defiantly mandarin inspired house (minus the rice-paper), it was certainly odd in Manhattan, but hey, Shina had seen much stranger in her life. Besides, the kind of money Long was making to teach the rich brats of doctors and lawyers basic self defense, he could afford to be odd. She walked into the house without knocking, a man like Long didn't exactly need to lock up if he was in residence, confident in the fact her friend was up and about.

"Long!" she called closing up the front door. "Hey, Long, it's Shina! Where are you? I brought you a present!" There was no answer, and considering sound carried very well through the sparsely furnished dojo (the inner walls actually _were _rice paper) she had one other guess as to where he might be. She grinned to herself as she went through the kitchen, setting the bag with the chai in it on Long's immaculately clean counter, heading for the one entrance to Long's garden.

Long's garden was styled in the traditional Chinese way, a lot of weeping cherry trees, feng-shui arranged bushes, and a whole bunch of big rocks set in patterns only Long truly appreciated. And right in the middle sat the Tiger himself, full lotus, eyes shut. Shina took one look at him and shook her head, he was in it deep.

"Long," she called walking closer toward him. "Long, hey snap out of it!"

He remained still as stone, not even a hair on him moved.

Shina let out a tired sigh before making her way through Long's little stone patterns to stand before him.

"Hey, Kempo-canoe, open your damn eyes!" she barked.

On command the tiger zoanthrope's eyes popped open, and at the same time his fist flew forward, aiming to catch Shina in her chin. Shina however, was very well prepared for this, she'd had experience with waking long up from meditation before, and jumped back to catch his fist in her open palm. Long blinked, clearing his mind as he refocused in reality, and met Shina's eyes with a slight frown.

"Damn, is this about that shirt I never returned?" she asked her friend, the grin returning to her face. "Because, seriously, man, I can return it...though you should be warned I kinda tore it up the other night in a bar fight."

"I thought we discussed you waking me like this?" the older male zoanthrope asked curtly as she released his hand. "You need to hit the gong." He glanced pointedly to the golden circle along with its mallet that sat on yet another big rock Long kept around for show in his garden. How he found rocks to be stylish and becoming to ones garden Shina would never know.

"Hey, be nice, or you don't get the present I picked p just for you on the way over, _Tigre_," she warned her friend, one hand worming down into her pocket while the other played with her jean chain.

Long raised his eyebrows as he slide his glasses back into place. "Should I be worried?"

Shina shrugged her lithe, tan shoulders. "If you don't like Starbucks Green Chai Delight, then yes, yes you should be," she answered, eyes sparkling with a light all her friends had come to adore. "If you like it then..." She only grinned.

Long jumped to his feet immediately, and embraced Shina with one arm.

"Ah, and I remember why I am so very fond of your company," Long chuckled. Shina nudged him in the ribs as the two of them made their way back into his home. "Come, sit and have breakfast with me. Yugo'll be dropping by within a few moments with Uriko for her training day. No doubt they'll want to join us before the two of you head on to W.O.C. headquarters."

"See the rapture in my eyes," Shina drawled holding the door open for her companion. The leopardess busied herself with brewing some water for the tea while Long put together a quick breakfast of his home grown (Long didn't trust supermarkets) fruits and rice cakes. They had just finished their given tasks when the front door to the dojo was thrown open and Uriko, followed by Yugo, ran inside.

"Master!" the seventeen year old cried going straight to Long and throwing her arms about his waist. He blushed, still very awkward when it came to the girl's affection, while Yugo and Shina hid their smiles behind their arms.

"Good morning, Uriko," he said in his constantly peaceful tones. "I hope you've com prepared to work today."

"Sure have!" Uriko said, her impish smile lighting up the room. She let him go to pull at her durable jogging clothes. "I even remembered to dress for the occasion."

Long smiled. "Good, now sit down and have some tea an fruit, you can't very well begin to train without a wholesome meal on your stomach."

Uriko looked over the meal, a look in her eyes reminiscent of what almost all teenagers wore when they were getting ready to make up an excuse.

"That's all right master," she said when her eyes finally flicked back to Long. "I already had breakfast today...Before I left the house." And she flashed her grin for the second time.

Long, not a fool even for Uriko's sweet face, smiled back.

"That's good, then," he said setting his glasses down on the kitchen counter. "We can fit in even more meditation time now, can't we?" Long's good natured smile became slightly wicked while Yugo and Shina watched with hard concealed humor as Uriko blanched. "Why don't you go and start?"

"Never mind," Uriko squeaked before taking her stool beside Shina. She munched hurriedly on her fruit and rice cakes, looking up to make sure Long was pleased every few seconds.

"And how's it hangin with you today?" Yugo addressed Shina for the first time that morning. He reached out to take her hand so that they could do their secret handshake.

"Loose and slightly to the left, as always," Shina joked before taking a big chunk out of the slice of melon Long had put on her plate.

Yugo and Uriko laughed while Long made face before taking a sip of his chai. The face melted in the vapors of his drink, making his friends and student chuckle in his direction. Yugo slide onto the kitchen stool next to Long and across from Shina and digging into his own plate.

"So Alice and I looked for you at the club last night," Yugo said, looking at Shina with a single raised eyebrow, after a few moments of comfortable silence. "Couldn't find you anywhere. Did this have anything to do with that charming PR guy who just started work for us?"

"No, it but it did have something to do with this guy who was about as tipsy as I was and who said he'd just love to show me his...er..._armoire_," Shina replied, a slow smile spreading across her face.

A rather dirty grin spread across Yugo's face. "So he took you back to his place and you discussed his..._armoire_?"

"Yep," Shina chuckled, she finished off her fruit and began to gnaw on her rice cake. "It was a very big one too, he even let me touch it." Yugo, now laughing quite hard, shook as he ducked his head down towards his plate, he spat out the mouthful of strawberries he'd been munching on, doing his best to keep from asphyxiating. Uriko, meanwhile, had put a sleeve over her mouth as she giggled, cheeks a bit scarlet. Long frowned giving both Shina and Yugo reproving looks, pointedly over Uriko's presence.

"I really don't care about your night-time practices, Shina, but there are little ears in here who don't need to catch any of this conversation," Long said in a low, rebuking voice. "And I'm very sure that her mother and sister would agree."

Yugo, Shina, and Uriko, all looked at one another for a few poignant moments, seconds later the three of them had lost their voices in a fit of laughter.

"Little ears!" Shina chuckled, beating her fist lightly on the counter top. She looked at Yugo, possibly the only friend she had who understood any French, and breathlessly said, "_Il y a des oreilles vierges dans ici_?"

Yugo began to laugh all that much harder and feigned to wipe his eyes. "_Il y a des oreilles vierges dans ici_? Ah, that's a good one, Shina!"

Uriko, though unable to understand what her the younger adults were talking about, continued to giggle, face now a very, very bright red.

"What does that mean?" Long asked his student and friends sharply, brown eyes narrow on their faces.

Yugo and Shina both shrugged as they continued to shake with laughter. "_Je ne sais pas_," Shina said, nearly choking on her rice cake.

"Uriko, why don't you go and eat outside, huh?" Yugo suggested to the girl as Long's face got a little pink at the temples. The girl, still pink and very gigglie, nodded and ran out into the garden with her chai and fruit plate.

"What did you just say, Shina?" Long demanded once Uriko was outside. "Tell me or I call your father and have him translate!"

Shina narrowed her eyes up at her friend, and Long gave her a look that said he wouldn't really but she'd still better tell him what she said or he'd give her no damn peace.

"She asked 'There are virgin ears in here?', Long," Yugo explained, discomforted by the looks both his friends wore on their faces.

Long looked away from Shina right then, and turned to Yugo, features totally confused.

"Why would she say that?" he asked which brought on yet another torrent of laughter from his two friends. "What?" Long demanded throwing up his hands. "What is with you two? Why is that so damn funny?"

"Oh, Long, you are so precious at times," Shina chuckled, reaching across the island-table to pat her friend on the cheek.

"Just let it go, Long," Yugo advised his friend, taking a drink of chai to clear his throat and calm himself down. "The moment's passed."

Long continued to frown but did not say anything more over the subject, though he did make a mental note to question Uriko about this later. Shina, grateful for the laughter, decided now was a good a time as any to bring up what had originally dragged her onto Long's doorstep so early.

"Long, um...what do you know about dreams?" the leopardess questioned, trying to look more interested in the pale green laquer on her teacup than her words.

Long raised his elegant mahogany brows, eyeing her over his spectacles. "What do you mean, Shina?" he asked quizzically.

"It's nothing, really," Shina said, her face a mask of insouciant curiosity. "I just had a really weird nightmare, last night...I'm not sure why I'm asking..." she frowned betraying that she had been nervous earlier. "It-it was just eerily delineative...like I was watching it happen for real." The younger woman met Long's brown eyes, her own clouded with slight uneasiness. "What do you think that could mean?"

"I'll tell you what it means, it means that you'd better stop tappin every nice piece of ass you can," Yugo interjected. "You're sexually wearing yourself out, Shina."

"Jealous that I'm seeing more action in a week than you do in a month, Mr. Committed?" Shina drawled, the sarcasm in her eyes enough to take one's head off. Yugo stuck out his tongue and flipped her off.

"_Je suis désolé, mais no nique gars laid_," Shina said switching with ease from accent-less English to sleek French. In English her words would have been translated to "I'm sorry, but I don't screw ugly boys". Shina was very proud of the fact that she could be foul mouthed in two languages. Yugo, meanwhile only understood the "ugly boys" part and had started to give her a lashing retort, fortunately, however, Long stepped in before he could do more then part his lips

"What was the dream about, Shina?" the eldest of the three friends asked her, concern lightly brimming in his irises.

She stared at down at her languid fingers, surrounding the delicate china teacup. "I watched people die," she said finally. "Two people. Their names were Paul and Dana. They were archaeologists working on an island somewhere in the south pacific. They were studying the doors of a temple when the ground started to shake, they were fine with the quaking but then the temple doors came open and there was this–this–_thing_ inside. I–I didn't really see the thing but at first it was like a light then it turned into a woman–At least I'm guessing the thing was a woman, it wasn't clothed and I'm fairly sure there were a couple assets that confirm gender. And...and then..." she screwed up her face, staring down into the chai, trying hard to remember exactly what had happened right before her eyes had shot open.

"She–It–smiled...Paul died first then the Dana girl. And then there was just this awful laughing...I swore I woke up in a pool of my own sweat right then." The young leopardess looked up at her friends, biting down on her full lower lip. "Do I sound weird?" she asked. "I mean does this dream–I–what do you think it's about? The clarity of it?"

There was a long poignant silence that spanned several minutes, with the only sound coming from Yugo tapping on the counter-top as he thought. Finally, it was the wolf who broke the sullen hush.

"I dunno, Shina," Yugo said with a roll of his muscular shoulders. "It sounds really...odd."

"Yeah, no kidding," Shina said, the two of them looked to Long.

"I think...that..." he began slowly, drumming his fingers methodically against black stone of the counter. "I think that maybe, Shina, this is one of those subconscious messages."

"Subconscious messages?" both she and Yugo questioned with raised brows. "Over what, Dr. Freud?"

"Don't yell at me but over your dad and–" Long began but was cut off by his rather agitated looking friend.

"Long, I seriously doubt it," Shina interjected coldly, her eyes shifting from the color of the sky to the color of ice.

"But it makes a lot of sense–just hear me out, dammit, you came to me for advice, remember?" Long said motioning for the now rigid limbed woman sitting across from him to calm down. "The man and woman, Dana and Paul, that's how you picture Gado and yourself. The monster, that's how you view Jenny. Now her killing the two of you, that's how you feel about her being around, like she's tearing you and your dad's relationship down..._murdering it with a smile_. I think that this dream is telling you need to just step back and stop hating them for what they're telling you Shina."

Long's eyes went soft, sympathetic even, and he reached over to pat her wrist quickly, he knew how she felt about being touched over emotional issues, and he offered her a light smile. "Shina, we know how you feel..."

"No, no you don't know," Shina snapped harshly, eyes ablaze as she jerked her hand back off the table, clenching her fists in her lap. "None of you knows how I feel in the slightest! Not you two, Not Al, not Mitsuko, and certainly not fucking Alan Gado or fucking Jenny Burtory knows how I fucking feel! _Sacré_!" She cursed before jumping off her chair stool.

Her friends watched her go, wincing as she stomped towards the door, throwing it open. Long and Yugo kept their eyes locked down on their plates, waiting for the door to slam. It never slammed however, and tiger and wolf looked up to see Shina had paused in the doorway.

"I'm–I'm sorry," she said softly, her voice and face far off and distant in a way neither Long or Yugo had witnessed. "I'm not angry with you guys. Not at all." She offered them an apologetic smile. "Sorry. I'll see you at work, Yugo. Long, I hope you enjoy the chai. Talk to you both later." And Shina disappeared through the entryway, leaving her ver worried best friends behind her. The two of them waited a good five minutes before either of them had the will to speak.

"Do you think we should call Gado?" Long asked the younger man without taking his eyes off his chai. "I know she doesn't want us to but..."

"No," Yugo answered quickly, but not too quickly as for Long to question his thoughts. "No, you know Shina...she...she's her own woman. She's got her problems and she'll fix 'em herself–or ignore them until they blow her head off like a bottle rocket. Interfering'll only piss her off at us and Gado and Jenny even more."

Long didn't say anything for a few moments then, "Dammit, they truly fouled her up, didn't they?"

Yugo swilled down the remains in his teacup. "Yep."

**Interlude**

Black eyes searched the red horizon, the round face of their owner was too young to carry so much weight. People had told Mana that most of her life but until then, she didn't think that any of it might be true.

"Mistress Mana...has it happened?" a mountain of a man by the name of Ryoho, asked from his place next to her.

The girl frowned, biting down hard onto her lower lip, enough so that she felt a salty tang within her mouth.

"Yes," Mana said, hands clenched tightly together. "Yes, they have convinced the Mother to let the EATEN ONE out of ITS cage."

"How long do we have, Priestess?" another voice asked, behind them stood a young woman with straight chestnut hair, one of her eyes as scarlet as the other was brown. Both eyes burned like fire itself as she stood, hands on her hips, ready to do whatever Mana suggested to stop the BEAST.

"We can't do it alone," the little priestess informed her. "We will need the aid of many, SHE has an immaculate guard."

"Xion included, no doubt," Nagi spat his name from her lips like it was venom.

"There will be more," Mana whispered, looking fearful for the first time in many years. "Many, many, more. SHE will call them from places far and wide, and they won't even have a say in it. SHE will take their very souls."

"Does anyone besides us sense it, Mistress?" Ryoho asked. "Or are we all there is now?"

"There's one more..." Mana said, familiar blue eyes and blonde hair passed through her mind's eye. "But she...she has much already on her mind."

"Shina," Nagi said, sensing her friend's name from Mana's aura. "It's Shina, isn't it?"

"We might have to get her attention," Mana said under her breath.


	4. Office Space

Kenji watched with great anticipation as his friend, Seth, attempted an airborne three-sixty on his board. He bit down on his lip, clenching his fists together, praying that the guy could make it without cracking his head open on the ramp. As much as Kenji loved skateboarding, he was constantly worrying about having to watch his friends who were somewhat less skilled at balance (Tony Hawk should know that being a former ninja helps one control a board far more efficiently) and had rough mastery over their boards. Of course you'd never know it as Kenji wouldn't preform any really good stunts with people, particularly his friends, watching. There were only two people that he ever did tricks in front of, one was his brother, and the other was his best friend, Uriko.

He'd tried to bring Uriko here once or twice, to make things a little easier on his nerves, but that didn't exactly work. Particularly when she kept...er...breaking his concentration. He blushed even at the memories of her jumping up and down cheering for him, she was supportive but there were just times he wanted her to shut up. He also wanted something else...but that was something that Kenji would never admit to, even to Yugo. Though, half the time, he was pretty sure that everyone knew...except maybe Uriko.

He wasn't sure why he was so nervous with things, and he wasn't just talking about himself and Uriko, there always seemed an invisible rope around his waist that stopped him from putting himself out to far like showing up any of his buddies at boarding. It wasn't like it really mattered in any case as he didn't get to go skateboarding that often, he was too busy helping Yugo with W.O.C. affairs, school, training, and Uriko of course. Sometimes though, Kenji really wished he could grow out of this stage or funk, whatever the hell was wrong with him, and just get really passionate inside about something. As much as he had going for him the kid just wasn't fixated on anything enough to feel a good obsession.

Seth didn't make it, he got maybe half a spin before he came crashing down onto his backside.

"Ooh," the entire group of guys exclaimed as he thrashed onto the wooden ramp. Seth laid there for a few long moments, looking up at the sky, face still from the combination of pride shattering pain and embarrassment. Kenji felt for the guy.

"And he's down for the count!" Mateo, one of Kenji's closer associates, (he really couldn't consider any of these people friends) announced as he made a face. "Hey, someone wanna peel home-slice off the wood? He's gonna get burnt just layin' down there cuz I ain't waitin' on the ambulance to carry his injured pride off!"

"That is so mean," really the only girl who came to the park to actually skate, Tawny, said to Mateo. She chuckled nonetheless even as she shook her head.

"Fuck of, Mateo!" Seth grumbled, giving him the bird as he, assisted by a friend, hobbled off the ramp and onto the nearby bleachers.

"Well, he sounds just a lil' bit upset, wouldn't you say?" Tawny piped up.

"Ah, let him be upset, I don't fuckin' care so long's the ramp's clear," Mateo told her before spitting of the ledge. "Kenji, go."

Kenji looked over at his friend, taken slightly aback. He'd just had a try at the ramp right before Seth, it was like the law of the skate park that the other skaters, namely Mateo and Tawny go first.

"Huh?" Kenji said, one eyebrow cocked in question.

"Go," Mateo ordered. "Dude, when you last went you almost nailed that double spin, let's see if your mojo's still working."

Kenji's brain went into panic mode, they were starting to think he had something going on, which he did but he didn't want them to know that. In all truth he'd been hoping to avoid the ramp for the rest of the day, Yugo was supposed to be picking him up any moment now to take him to headquarters.

"But the rules say–" he started, trying to avoid this at all costs.

"Rules shmules," Tawny drawled hands on her hips. "You've got a chance to finally nail double spin. We're being nice, so get your skinny little ass over here and hit the wood!"

"Vamos, ese!" Mateo agreed, smacking his board on the ground lightly. "We haven't got all day." And as if that was all there was to it, he and Tawny stepped back, pushing him forward.

Kenji swallowed. The more he rode the ramp the more competitive he'd get, and if he got really competitive he just might not be able to stop himself. The last thing that the seventeen year old zoanthrope wanted was for his skate-boarding buddies to find out he'd been hiding his capabilities for the duration of the six months he'd been going there. How was it that, even when he was trying to play fair for everyone, things like this continued to happen?

"Go!" Mateo barked one final time, forcing Kenji to the ledge. He laid down his board, trying to think of a convincing way to screw his move up when he was saved by the blessed honk of a car horn. Kenji looked up and to his great relief found his big brother's black truck that had just pulled up near the entrance.

"Crap, Yugo!" he feigned disappointment and anxiety. "Sorry, guys, I gotta go!" And he ran for the ladder, making sure to go down the tedious rungs, fighting the urge to simply drop the fifteen feet to the ground. "Later!" And he was rushing across the cement towards the truck and safety, practically jerking the door off it's hinges when he jumped in.

Yugo looked his brother over as Kenji slammed the door, brows high in surprise.

"Bad morning?" Yugo asked, the look on his face questioning Kenji's sanity.

"Just drive," the seventeen year old ordered dourly. He stripped off his helmet and elbow pads.

"Okay, okay, just wondering why you ran at the damn truck like you had a Gorilla chasing your ass," Yugo said holding up his hands before shifting gears and pulling up the street. "You could have finished that run, you know, we don't have to be at the building for another twenty–" Yugo silenced himself when his little brother locked snapping brown eyes on his face.

"Well if it makes you feel better Long and I didn't have such a great morning either," Yugo finally sighed, passing through the streets towards the W.O.C. building. "Shina was there when I dropped Uriko off."

Kenji looked at his brother through the corner of his eye. Shina was one of the few people in his short lifetime that he had actually liked right from the start, he'd had to get used to everyone else, with the exception of Yugo and Uriko. And there were more than just a couple times that Kenji really wasn't all that sure about Uriko, considering that he had yet to figure her out completely. Shina was different though, she was...like him, complex, and if Kenji could relate to anything it was complexity. Plus Shina was really funny and she didn't treat him like a kid, something Long, Alice, and Mitsuko had a bit of a habit doing.

"So?" Kenji asked with a shrug. "She goes over there to spar with him a lot. What was so different about today?"

"Today she was asking for advice over some weird little dream she had last night and Long made the paramount error of suggesting to her that it was all subconscious backwash over Jenny and Gado."

Kenji winced, ever since Shina's arrival in Manhattan little over three months ago she had made but a single request from her friends after explaining her situation: Do not ask about her father or "Bat-whore". Most of the gang obeyed it. Kenji himself had no problems with the demand because, hey, Gado wasn't _his _dad. Sure he liked the older zoanthrope, he'd helped Kenji and Yugo out many times, but he also liked Shina, and since neither Gado nor Jenny had exactly called _him _up asking questions about her, he could very well steer clear of the mess. Yugo, Long, and Alice, however...they were on somewhat of a different level.

Kenji was certain about two things of Gado and his daughter, they were both very effective and highly sought of Mercs, and they both had attachment to the same small group of people. Yugo and Long were probably Shina's best friends, after all every time that she wasn't on assignment she sought them out. On the other hand Yugo was Gado's godson and Long had known the old lion before he'd become close to the young leopardess. Alice was a bit more out of the torturous little web but as she was pretty much the only chick Shina would hang out with, _and _knew her dad well enough, she had issues over the whole mess just as her boyfriend and Long did.

"What did she do?" Kenji asked, unsure if her really wanted to know.

"Swore at us, told us we didn't know how in the fuck she felt, blah, blah, blah...you know what she did that first night Mitsuko tried to console her," his brother answered, eyes focused on the road as he made a quick turn. "We thought she was gonna rip the door off it's hinges leaving, but she surprised the both of us by apologizing before she went." Yugo shook his head.

"Did Gado call back?" Kenji ventured to ask. "About her not returning his messages?"

"Yeah, but I told him what Shina told me and he said he wasn't going to call about her anymore," he told him. "Personally I can't blame, Shin, she's had a pretty big bomb dropped on her. I don't know what I'd do in her place...I might do more than freak out and put an ocean between myself and my dad." Yugo's brown eyes were sincere on the behalf of his friend, and Kenji knew this would be one of those things his big brother would only let worry him more as the days went by.

They drove in silence the rest of the way to headquarters, Yugo fretting over Shina and Kenji, worrying discreetly about them both.

**Interlude**

"Hey, workin' hard or hardly workin'?" a unmistakably familiar and feminine voice broke through Shina's concentration. The blonde looked up from the paper she was reading over for a rally Yugo wanted to organize, and met the fuchsia eyes of one very perky rabbit zoanthrope. Alice grinned holding up a bag and two Styrofoam cups. Shina looked over at the wall clock in total surprise, it certainly didn't feel like one-thirty to her, maybe like nine-thirty.

"Well by that expression, I'd say the first," Alice chuckled before sitting down across from Shina at her desk. She sat bag and cups down before pushing Shina's laptop to the side. She chuckled again. "And here I thought you'd last here a week tops."

"Well, it _is _a hell of a lot different than gutting drug lords and terrorists in the far flung corners of the earth," Shina admitted with an almost morose chuckle. She moved her feet of the desk and shoved the paper in a drawer. "But hey, it beats sitting around the house."

"I still don't see why you just didn't do some freelance," Alice said to her as she sat their lunch out. It was the same thing everyday, a Caesar salad for Alice, and a double bacon mayo-melt burger for Shina, along with two Cokes. They had a good lunch routine. "I could picture you taking out your anger far more easily on some poor defenseless little Columbian guerrillas than organizing a sit-in at some grocery store that supposedly discriminates against zoanthrope employees and clientele."

"It would be more fun but I'm contracted to Gado's team," she reminded her friend. "And the International Mercenary Guild code clearly states that as long as I am under contract with a team I can refuse a mission from my leader but I cannot by any means accept any independent work."

"When does the contract expire then, again?" Alice asked as she sat down and unwrapped her plastic dining utensils.

"Every ten years," Shina reminded her before biting a big chunk out of her sandwich. "Which means you get to keep me for eighty four additional months!" She told Alice this with feigned excitement and a full mouth.

"Eww, Shina, don't talk with your mouthful!" Alice exclaimed wrinkling her nose up at her friend. "It's bad enough you have to eat dead cow in front of me, I don't want to see how it's going to look in your digestive tract!"

Shina rolled her eyes but swallowed nonetheless before speaking again. "And you're boyfriend is who again?" she drawled at Alice. "Last time I checked, Yugo was more of a slob than I am. And also I believe, wolves were just as carnivorous as us leopards."

"He is," Alice said with a very suggestive wink. Shina put down her sandwich making a less than tasteful face.

"I hate you," she informed the other woman, remembering right then, just why, when she had first met Alice so many years back, she'd thought of her as a pigtailed menace. She grabbed her Coke and started to slurp it up, an attempt to wash the greasy feeling from her tongue _and _her mind. It was one thing to make dirty jokes with her friends, but it was a completely different affair, to Shina, when her friends were the subjects, especially Yugo and Alice...They were like her siblings!

"I know," Alice chuckled. "Sorry. But I think I can make up for it."

"You're going to blind me with the fork so I don't have anymore nightmares?" Shina asked, propping her legs back up on the desk.

"Close, but no," Alice giggled. "How about me, you, and Yugo drag Long out to the Backlash, clubbing tonight?" Alice's face was sly with the suggestion.

Shina cocked a single eyebrow. "Interesting, Long does need to get back out there," the young mercenary contemplated. "Dude can't live his whole live in the middle of this big city hiding out in his house. But please," she caught Alice's eyes with her own once more, "elaborate: how does making Long socialize with the rest of the planet benefit _me_?"

"Drinks are on me and I won't complain about anything you wear, even once," Alice said in her bright, cheery, voice, crossing her legs for lack of being able to use her hands to gesticulate with.

Blue eyes and a grin lit up the entirety of Shina's face. "You're serious?" she asked, moving her legs so that she could lean forward across the desk. "No matter what I wear, you won't say a single word about any of it? Even my combat boots?" Despite the fact she could obviously afford a new pair, Shina had only one set of big, heavy, lace-tight-to-the-top, black, scuffed to hell, steel toed, combat boots. They were pretty much her only shoes as well, or at least that's what everyone assumed considering they had not seen her don a different style in the last eight years or so

Alice made a face. "Well maybe..."

"Al, you promised!"

"Oh, okay, okay, even the boots!" Alice moaned, looking a bit sullenly down at her half eaten salad. "But you're limited to only three beers now!"

"Deal," the leopardess said giving a shrug, the smirk still clinging to her lips. "To shut you up about my clothes I'd let the beer slide completely." Shina laughed before tearing into her sandwich once again.

Alice wrinkled her nose up at her friend once again as she practically inhaled the processed meat and cheese. Sometimes she really questioned why the two of them were as tight as they were. Particularly when Shina would show up in public places wearing those damn boots. The rabbit let out a sigh and finished her lunch, reveling in the small pleasure of lettuce and Parmesan cheese.

**Interlude**

Violet eyes watched with avid interest as Shina and Alice finished up their lunch. Finely crafted lips curled upward into a smile any woman would have considered warm, almost beautiful. He had read the lips of his "kitten" and her friend, he knew where she would be that evening. He would not even have to trail her home that evening to make sure of her precious whereabouts.

"Not saying that I won't," he chuckled to himself, as he made a plan of action right then and there. The young man stood, pushing back strands of black and blue out of his eyes, drinking in the scene of his beloved in her own habitat one last time before turning about to take a running leap onto the next building. He should probably get home and get ready, tonight was the night that "kitten" would find out who he was, and that first impression warranted quite a bit of work on his part.

**Interlude**

Of all the places in the world that deal with dirty mercenary groups, Russia is among the very worst, in particular, a little town in the far north, so far north that it'd bordering on Siberia, that's name has been left off the country's map. It's name in English, translates very roughly to "The Devil's Hole" or "Satan's crevice". No roads lead there and finding a guide brave enough to lead you in is virtually impossible. The only sure way to get in is to know a man by the name of Greco Portinich, the town's only outside contact. And just as luck would have it, Shenlong was a very good acquaintance of Mr. Portinich. After meeting with his dear acquaintance, treating him to an elegant dinner, sharing a few bottles of Bordeaux with him, and around ten thousand dollars dropped in a Swiss bank account, Shenlong convinced Mr. Portinich, that he, and his friends, had urgent business at The Devil's Hole.

Once they had arrived at The Devil's Hole they had sought out one Yuri Bremen, who's office the currently sat in.

"So let me get dis straight," Bremen said in his thick Russian accent. He took a deep drag off of his cigar. "You vant my team to lead an assault on dis building in New York City, flush dez people out, but you do not vant us to kill dem? And den da run aftervard? What kind of mission is dis?" His craggy, weatherbeaten face was hard, eyes like two little black marbles as he scrutinized the three person assembly before him.

"A complicated one, of course," Xion said, uncrossing then re-crossing his legs. "Hence us turning to you."

"What my esteemed colleague means to say is that we knew that this sort of complex work was just perfect for a group such as yours," Shenlong reinterpreted Xion's words with more shrewd politeness.

"Yeah," Busuzima agreed from his place standing near the back, ogling Bremen's right hand man, a shapely red head named Natalia. "Crooked workers usually make a crooked job go along much faster."

Shenlong threw the chameleon zoanthrope a dark glare, warning him to shut his mouth, before turning back to Bremen, trying to smooth things over.

"Please excuse, my colleague, Mr. Bremen he–"

Bremen chuckled. "Cut da bullshit," Bremen cut off Shenlong's apology. "He put it vell enough. You vant us to carry out dis job because you can't exactly go to Alan Gado and ask for his assistance." Both he, Natalia, and their guests cracked a smile at that.

"Fair enough," Xion said. "Now how much do you need to carry out this little job?"

"Twenty mil," Bremen said, shortly, he wasn't the type to beat about the bush. "Twenty mil, and someting more personal."

"And what would that be?" Shenlong asked.

Bremen held up his left hand, a somewhat disfigured lump attached to his meaty wrist. He let them view it in open for a few seconds, making a point to his three visitors. "Gado and a little friend of his by da name of Yuji did dis to me several years back, during a mission to Brazil. All I request, ven he and the Ohgami boy are captured is dat I claim da old lion's head and da boy's hand." He met each pair of eyes across from his desk. "Do ve haf a deal?"

Xion and Shenlong glanced at one another, finally the silver haired man gave a nod and Shenlong shifted back toward Bremen. "We do–as long as you don't kill the boy. We have use for him alive, the lion you can do as you will."

Bremen smiled, a very eerie sight that would make most people shiver. "Good. Natalia?" He barked the last word.

"Commandant?" she asked standing at attention.

"Go and tell da men to get der asses ready," he ordered. "Tell Borkoff to ready his armaments. We take off in two days."


	5. Pros and Cons

"Well I don't give a damn if you have the right to refuse to sell!" Yugo was shouting into the receiver of his office phone. "You can have that right, pal, but be forewarned the W.O.C. is going to let the rest of the world know just how you feel about minority groups like zoanthropes! Yeah! Trust me I will! You have no idea–Motherfucker!" Yugo swore as the other end of the receiver clicked off. He let out a guttural sort of roar as he began to repeatedly beat the phone down on his desk, swearing enough to make sailor blush as he did. Of course the woman standing behind him was not a sailor by any means and she was not going to blush, she'd heard this far to many times to care.

"Yugo, sweetie, let go of the receiver," Alice implored, her voice a gentle command as she stepped across the room to take hold of her boyfriends wrist. He halted immediately at her touch, looking down somewhat nervously into her reproving pinkish-violet eyes. Yugo grinned nervously.

"Hi, babe," he laughed nervously. "How's your day been? Did you have a good lunch with Shina this afternoon?"

"Day and lunch were great, Shina and I had a nice long talk," Alice answered him. "Now please," her eyes darkened. "Drop the phone. We are draining funds to keep buying you new ones, and that's just not good, honey."

"Right sorry," he sighed, letting loose of the earpiece at once. Alice patted him on the shoulder before putting the telephone back into its cradle. That done she perched on Yugo's desk, legs swinging back and forth as she eyed her boyfriend. "Now should I ask what's gotten into you this morning?" she questioned.

"The CEO of Bell's hung up on me when I tried to negotiate with him," Yugo said, pouting just a little. "The guy wouldn't even listen to me, Alice! Do I come off as a jerk-off or something or–"

"Yugo!" Alice wailed putting her head in her hands. "You were supposed to let Marie and Jon take care of negotiations! Honey, you know you're not good at dealing with some of these people!"

"Well forgive me for doing my job!" he exclaimed still pouting as he crossed his arms. "It's not my fault that the guy is a worthless scrap of humanity!"

Alice rolled her eyes, for someone who worked as hard as he did to try and rebuild human and zoanthrope relations, Yugo was at the same time keenly able to tear them down. Seeing that he was continuing to brood, though, Alice couldn't find it in her to scold him anymore, and instead reached out to pull him closer to her.

"Poor, poor, Yugo," she sighed, lovingly interlocking their fingers. She kissed his Adam's apple very lightly. "The world is just being _so _mean to you isn't it?" She ran her fingers through his shaggy brown hair, scratching behind his ears.

Yugo, nodded putting on what Alice had aptly named his "puppy dog face". She giggled and tentatively brushed her lips against his, Yugo deepened that first little caress, his hand traveling up her arm to cup the side of her face. Pulling back after a few long seconds they smiled at one another, Yugo mischievously, Alice coyly. Yugo imitated their second kiss. Ensuring that it would be a lengthy and romantic one, his one hand remained on the side of her face while the other grasped the small of her back. At the same time Alice wound half of her fingers in her lover's hair and pressed others gently against the nap of his neck.

"I don''t suppose now would be a good time to bring up a promise a made to Shina?" Alice asked when they finally let go of one another.

"Depends on what it is," Yugo joked, making her more comfortable with his smile.

"The three of us dragging Long out of his house to go to Backlash's tonight?" she asked with only a slight timid note to her voice.

Yugo made a thoughtful face before meeting his girlfriend's eyes again. "Could be fun," he finally chuckled, to Alice's relief. "Especially if we have to use excessive force on Long." He grinned impishly once more. A more thoughtful look flashed across his face. "How's Shina? And why exactly did you promise her to we would drag Long out tonight?"

"Oh, I was just teasing her and I volunteered to buy her some drinks and not complain about the outfit she chooses this evening," the auburn haired zoanthrope told him with a shrug of her ivory shoulders. "As for the Long part, I just thought it would be a good idea to get him out amongst the hoi polloi, especially after an entire day with Uriko."

Yugo hesitated to agree too adamantly, despite the fact that she always had something to say about her sister's hyperactivity, Alice was very picky about who else got to complain about it. So he settled for a very nonchalant, "Yeah". It was then Alice's turn to question.

"Why ask if Shina's okay?"

"It's a long story but let's just say one of my other best friends mentioned a couple of rather...unwanted names to her at breakfast this morning when I dropped Uriko off," Yugo explained. Alice made a face.

"Oh, no, he didn't!" the rabbit murmured sadly.

"He did, she swore the both of us out in two languages, apologized for the outburst, and left," Yugo sighed. " He looked down ruefully at Alice. "I really don't think she's getting as much solace from her problems as she says she is, Ally."

Alice nodded in sad agreement. Shina's situation with her father and Jenny Burtory had everyone on pins in needles, but none more than Long, Yugo, and herself. The worst part was that she wouldn't talk to anyone about the whole mess, so that left a group of people, very used to taking action in all forms, helplessly watching them from the sidelines. It particularly distressed Alice who wanted loved nothing more than take care of her friends and boyfriend.

"You think she'll be okay?" Yugo, surprised them both, by asking Alice this question.

Alice looked tenderly into his eyes so desperately begging for assurance that she just could not give.

"I dunno, she–she's not gonna be _not _okay, I mean...if this was too much for her to bare, then she wouldn't surround herself with other familiar faces that would remind her of Gado...would she?" Alice asked returned his question with her own.

Yugo looked down and away, his arms pulling Alice closer, the only answer he could give.

"Whatever goes on, we'll just have to make sure that she knows we'll be there for her," he murmured looking down into her eyes. "We'll take care of her...we're just gonna have to make sure that Shina doesn't know that we're doing it if we want to live."

"Point taken," Alice said. She smiled up into Yugo's umber brown eyes the adoration she had for him reflecting back with all of his. "You're such a good friend, it's positively adorable." She said this as she slipped her arms around his waist, eyes demurely shifted to the side. She slumped against him, letting her dark head rest against his blue and gold T-shirt.

"I'm even more adorable when my girlfriend scratches the right spot," he chuckled, reaching down to tilt Alice's face up towards his own. They were less than an inch apart when, the door burst open and Uriko dragging Kenji along behind her, Shina and Long following them.

"Hey, Alice, Master Long brought me–" her call was cut short as she saw the two of them and skidded to a halt, and falling to the floor, while Kenji and everyone else simply froze.

"Ugh–oh," Kenji said, brown eyes wide beneath his messy bangs, the only sound to be heard for the next several minutes. All six parties looked between themselves, each of them blushing with embarrassment save for Shina and Uriko, the two of them just looked at the scene with raised eyebrows. Long's only real reaction besides blushing was to clap a hand over his eyes.

"So..."Uriko trailed a little nervously. "I–ugh–I guess I should've knocked first, heh?"

There was a second more of quiet before, Alice, very pink in her visage, picked up a notepad from Yugo's desk and hurled it forcefully at her little sister, beaning her between the eyes.

"Dammit, Uriko, were you born in a barn or something, learn to knock for Christ's sake!" she swore, her eyes becoming a little more pinkish–red than purple pink. Uriko swallowed, that was never a good sign in the rabbit.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry!" Uriko exclaimed holding up her hands to shield her eyes. "I just wanted to let you know Master Long dropped me off and Kenji and I were going to the movies so you wouldn't worry!"

"Ooh, just go!" Alice growled, Yugo grabbed her hand when she scooped up his coffee mug.

"Well we would it's just...I don't have any money and neither does Kenji–"Uriko started, timidly wringing the him of her green-blue shirt. Again Alice's eyes flashed a dangerous shade of rose, so, to save the younger girl, Shina intervened.

"Here," the leopardess said pulling out her wallet and handing the girl a twenty. "Now go before your sister removes your eyeballs with a staple."

Uriko looked at the bill then back at Shina, shortly after she squealed (very shrilly) and threw her arms quickly about the blonde. Shina's eyebrow twitched as she looked toward the others her piercing irises screeching "Get her off me!"

"Thank you, Shina," Kenji said catching the incentive first and prying his best friend from around the older female. He gave and apologetic look to Yugo and Alice, and bowed to Long before dragging his best friend from the room.

"Hey wait a minute!" Uriko exclaimed as he pulled her along. "Do we have enough for popcorn and soda too?"

"Uriko!" Kenji growled jerking her out the door.

"Ow! Stop yanking me around like a dog!" she snapped even as he pulled. As an afterthought she half turned and smiled back at Shina and Long. "Thanks for the money Shina, I'll pay you back! See you on Tuesday, Master!"

"Goodbye, Uriko," Long called, his face still very much hidden withing his wide palm. Shina and Yugo shook their heads at the girl as the two teenagers headed for the elevator. Alice simply tried to bore holes in the doorway by glaring into it.

"Well," Shina said, reverting her sky blue eyes back to Alice and Yugo, who were still very much caught up in one another's embrace. She cocked an eyebrow as she grinned, shoving her hands into the pockets of her cargos. "Now just exactly were you kids thinking? In the office? Where your little brother works a s a courier?" She clicked her tongue. "How the mighty have fallen."

Alice and Yugo's cheeks flared with color once more and Yugo took a couple steps backward while Alice jumped off the desk.

"Shina!" Long hissed.

"Oh, shut up and keep your hands over your eyes, _vierge_," she snapped at him. Long scowled at her before taking off his glasses to clean them of smudges.

"I'm sorry, I told her to hold on but...you know Uriko," Long apologized with a heavy sigh as he returned his bifocals to their place on the bridge of his nose. "Really, though, she's been improving with it since she started meditation...I think."

"Whatever you say," Yugo said, just thankful for focus to be off of himself and Alice. Though as far as he was concerned Uriko was, and probably would always be, as off the wall as the day they had met.

"So have you given Tiger the good news?" Alice questioned Shina before the other woman could make another sly remark about the situation she'd walked in on. She glanced at Long, a small grin playing on her pretty features. Long felt slightly panicked by this.

"Tell me what?" he asked, looking apprehensively from Alice to the blonde woman standing beside him. He wasn't all that confident that he wanted to know.

"Well, Long, old friend," Shina began, hands moving from her pockets to her hips.

"Compadre," Yugo added, grinning like a fool, Long's stomach flopped.

"Compatriot," Alice got into the game as well, giggling. The tiger zoanthrope wondered how far he could get down the hall before one of them caught up to him...just in case.

"Dude that I know and somewhat respect," Shina took the floor once again. "We, your closest confidants, have decided that you need to get back out into the world and start mingling with the populace once more."

"Heh?" Long questioned, raising an eyebrow at her dramatics.

"We're taking you out tonight, to a club," Alice clarified for him.

"Even if we have to put you in a burlap bag and drag you kicking and screaming from your dojo," Yugo said, his smile resembling his zoanthrope side more and more.

Long stared at them for a moment, blinking in surprise. Finally, he managed to squeak an, "Excuse me?"

"We're taking you clubbing," Shina repeated. "You know to a club, out of the house, where there are people, a lot of them drunk and looking to score." She pushed his arm. "That kind of place."

The tiger drew down his eyebrows as he narrowed his gaze at his three friends. "And just what, pray-tell, convinced you that this was a good path?" he demanded. "If you haven't noticed I am a grown man and more than capable of making my own decisions."

"We know that, Long," Yugo said, dismissing the hints of rage that sparked in the other man's coffee brown eyes. "But hey, if you haven't noticed, you've been living in the second most populated city in the world for over six months. And you leave the house maybe three times a week. It's like you think you're gonna turn into pumpkin if you're not back in the confines of your dojo within a certain amount of time."

"Yeah, man," Shina agreed. "I almost shit myself when you brought Uriko this afternoon. And didn't you move into Manhattan to 'live amidst the rest of humanity?'. How are you living amidst the rest of humanity when you're holed up 24/7/365 in your house. You don't even grocery shop for yourself, Long!"

Alice, noting that Long's eyes were starting to narrow all the more, stepped up, the gentle voice of reason behind Shina and Yugo's unyielding resolve.

"We're just trying to help you out, Long," she told him gently, walking over to put a hand on his shoulder. He looked into her eyes, seeing only the upmost sincerity and concern. "You can't spend your life in the house any more than you could spend it in the cave. I mean...what if Shina goes back to Paris? Or W.O.C. relocates to the Tokyo branch? What are you going to do then?"

"And keep in mind, Long, you still haven't figured out how to use the web cam," Shina reminded him, crossing her arms over her cyan colored tee.

"And you barely navigate your email," Yugo quipped.

"_The point is_," Alice interjected, throwing her boyfriend and the other woman a quieting glare, before turning a smiling face back toward Long. "We're only trying to help, so, spare us all the fuss and Yugo hunting a burlap bag." She chuckled. "Yugo and I'll pick you up at seven." She looked him and his Chinese style gi over and added, as if an afterthought. "We'll bring some clothes."

The office was quiet for a few key seconds, as Shina, Alice, and Yugo, watched the scholarly face of the tiger zoanthrope with taunt anticipation, fearing for the worst, not a tongue lashing for their intrusion in his personal affairs, but his blatant refusal. Finally he let out a sigh, and adjusted his glasses one last time.

"All right, seeing as I'll get no peace if I refuse," he said, giving in. "But–" he added sharply looking at Alice. "I will take care of my own attire. I'm not a child, and more than capable of picking out my own clothes."

"Fine, fine!" Alice exclaimed throwing up her hands. "But I reserve the right to nitpick!"

"Ah, tonight is gonna be a great night," Shina said as Long gave Alice a black look, she grinned at Yugo. "I'm omitted from the fashion bureau and Long takes my place. Maybe there is a God after all." Yugo chuckled along with her but only for a few moments as Alice started to glare in his direction. Meanwhile Long frowned down his glasses at a still giggling Shina.

"You should talk about taste in clothing," he told her crisply, referring to her torn cargo pants that hung low on her hips, faded T-shirt, and of course _the boots_.

"Hey at least no one's ever asked me to balance a plate on a stick in _my _threads," Shina snorted.

"I'm not going to dignify that with a retort," Long informed her, though a less than dignified grimace covered his face.

"Whatever," Shina said tossing head. She crossed her arms as her eyes switched back over to Alice and Yugo. "I guess I'll see you two later, I'm going to head to the house."

"Bye, Shina," Yugo said as she began to go, Alice echoed him.

The blonde mercenary paused at the door, a wicked gleam in her eyes as she glanced back at her friends. "You kids keep out of trouble, now, you hear?" she teased before pulling the door open, Yugo and Alice both staring fiercely at her with red tinged cheeks. She glanced at Long. "Later, _vierge_."

"What in the hell does that mean, Shina?" he exclaimed following her down the hall.

"_Je ne sais pas_," she sang, heading towards the elevator.

"Oh, do not _even _start that I don't know excuse!" Long growled rushing after her in agitation he desperately was trying to keep a lid on. "Tell me and tell me now!"

Alice looked at Yugo and they both sighed and smiled. Friendship was beautiful thing, at times they just pretended not to know it's beauty on a personal level in public places.

**Interlude**

"_Baby you make my heart beat faster _

_Baby you make my heart beat faster _

_I know_

_Let alone to rust alone _

_You're making me _

_I had to run the damage is done _

_I give it up, yeah, give it up yeah _

_There's nothing left so take the rest _

_You're draining me!"_

the voice of the Distillers' frontwoman blared out from Shina's mp3 player as she jogged to her home after work. With a normal nine-to-five clock schedule, Shina found that time to visit her precious gym was waning, and so to make up for that she would jog and shadow-box the mile and a half to her condo from headquarters. Hurtling over a couple of trash cans just to make a the people standing on the corner stare, the leopardess grinned, she had never felt so alive and so free until coming to this place. She had an a pretty good life in Manhattan.

She missed the combat, the firing range, sparring with her teammates, but if she really wanted to spar she had Long, and if she wanted to practice her shot there was a shooting range downtown that she could go to at any time. Sure, she missed the team itself, missed talking to her friends in Paris, but she had also missed the majority of her Zoanthrope friends. She had missed her best friends, Long and Yugo, in particular, and they lived here, across the ocean from Paris. In Manhattan, Shina was free to do as she pleased as well, as opposed to her native land, she didn't have to notify compound guards or her dad of where she was and what she was doing. Plus, it wasn't like she actually missed home, or at least she wouldn't admit it. Besides New York may not have won her over completely yet, but over time, she told her herself, it would. Her heart hadn't settled in this place already, but she was very sure it could.

Shina made it to her small condo a few moments later, just as the song ended and another started up. She pulled out her keys, unlocking the front door. Once inside, Shina turned off her music, laying the mp3 on the closest surface, a small, mail laden table, right beside the front door. For a young woman with the kind of wealth and background she had, Shina's apartments were not furnished to reflect that fact. Her living room and kitchen sort of melded together elegantly, in the way that loft spaces tend to do, with large windows set into white walls all around the house. The den was large but sparse, with only an overstuffed black leather couch, exercise matt, and nary used tv in it center. A ways to the far right was Shina's practically unused kitchen, which housed a stove, black topped counter, and fridge that contained a six pack of Coke and some cold cuts. That was about it for the downstairs of her apartments, and as she really had no need to be there, Shina dropped hurried up to the wrought iron spiral staircase that lead to the upstairs.

The upstairs of Shina's condo had two rooms, her bedroom and her bathroom, both of which were far more furnished than the entire downstairs. The bedroom, like everything else was simple, nothing special. Lots of windows, white curtains, a queen sized bed with white sheets (Shina liked to sprawl in her sleep), a laptop at a desk with a rolling chair, and dark gray carpeting. That was it. As for her bathroom, it was a typical bathroom; shower, tub, toilet, sink, all white and all very clean. Nothing more, nothing less, that particular thought passed through the mercenaria's head as she stripped and made for the bathroom.

As she walked toward the shower Shina caught sight of herself in the mirror overhanging the sink, and stopped, not to admire, but to look over, her reflection. She'd changed since moving to New York, in many ways. Her tan had dulled quite a bit since she'd moved to the northern American city, no surprise since she hadn't bend spending all that much time outdoors. Her hair was a little different, as well, she hadn't cut it since before leaving Paris, she'd also stopped spiking it so that it hung almost to her shoulders, uneven from the way it had been cut when she'd been trying to imitate her father's hairstyle. Her hair and her skin tones were insignificant things to Shina however, when she peered into the looking glass.

Maybe it was just the circumstances under which she'd left her father, but the face in the mirror looked different to Shina. Her face seemed to belong to someone else anymore, someone she didn't know, and that was quite dismaying to the leopardess. Her eyes, her nose, her mouth, even her eyebrows were taken into a different perspective anymore. The entirety of her countenance looked dissimilar than it used to, like she was matching parts of herself up with someone else, even a couple of someone elses.

Shina's full coral mouth broke into a frown as she threw her hand up over her reflection, angrily hiding her face. Memories that she'd tried so hard to repress for the last three months flooded her mind, tearing at her insides and filling her with a dark rage. She bit the inside of her cheek until it bled as she turned away to switch on the shower, trying to forget it all.

She was in the shower, relaxing, prohibiting herself from thinking as she cleaned her body, for about fifteen minutes before she heard the doorbell being knelled with disturbing gusto.

"Ah, Shit!" she swore shutting off the water valve. Shina stumbled out of the shower, barely pausing to grab her robe and fling it on before running back down the stairs. The doorbell, meanwhile, continued to ring incessantly.

"All right, all right , already!" she shouted as she charged for the front door. "Hold your fucking horses! Christ! I'm coming!" Shina reached out to grasp the door knob.

She wasn't sure what in the hell happened, she didn't know how, or the cause, but the moment Shina's finger's closed around the little silver knob, a strange and painful jolt raced up the her spine jarring into the base of her skull, like a searing rod right into her brain. Shina let out a half conscious roar as she dropped to her knees onto the wood floor. Her roar became louder and shriller as the pain intensified, blinding Shina. The leopardess grasped the sides of her head, rolling into the fetal position just as her mind fell into the black.

_Manhattan was a memory, nothing more than a graveyard, all rubble and body parts, the remains of both smouldering beneath a red sky. Desolation was all that greeted Shina as far as the her acute eyes could see. There was nothing remaining of the city that never slept. It had all been charred beyond the bone. Shina gulped, looking around in vain fervor for any signs of life but finding none. The worst of it wall was Shina knew it wasn't just New York City that had been massacred, Shina knew everything else was gone as well._

_The zoanthrope mercenaria fell to the ground, the life sapped from her very being. Faces ran through her mind's eye. Yugo, Long, Alice, Uriko, Kenji, Nagi, and even..._

_SHE appeared then, rising from the ground to show HER truest form to Shina. A body that was white and burning exploded in her vision, beautiful and terrifying all at once. But Shina would not allow herself to look away, even as she felt the skin sloughing and burning off her bones, she continued to meet those black, star-studded, eyes. Two tears trickled down her cheeks, laden with regret, just as SHE smiled. The finale of her heartbeat was music to Shina's tears._

**Interlude**

"Mana, stop it!" Nagi ordered the girl as she continued to let the dream pulse flow into the crystals. "Mana! No! You're hurting her, dammit!" She glared of at Ryoho, who seemed frozen to the spot. "Do something!" She practicably screeched at the big man. Her eyes began to glow the red and yellow color of the Spurious. "Stop her or I will!" She clenched her fists.

Ryoho blanched, knowing that Nagi could and would do just what she threatened. He rushed to the little Priestess' side, and very gently shook her while whispering "Mistress Mana, please come back, now."

At once the girl returned from her trance, falling back into Ryoho's outstretched arms, eyes almost rolling into the back of his head.

"Mistress..." Ryoho began hesitantly, touching th side of her face. Mana's eyes snapped open.

"She'll question now," the little girl breathed, the sweat running from her brow. "Part of the path has opened up. She and the other's won't be far behind."

"What in the hell were you thinking!" Nagi demanded grasping the girl by the shoulders and giving her a hard shake. "You could've killed her! Shina's a warrior of strength not of the mind!" She let go of the girl abruptly, letting he collapse onto the floor. "You may not be concerned with Shina's life, with Yugo's or Long's but dammit I am! I consider them my friends and I will not have you playing so loosely with them like this!"

"I do not play, Nagi," Mana told her, her voice calm, she was always calm. "And I would not think of trying to kill any of the three chosen. The world needs them, if you haven't forgotten. We need them."

"She was in pain, Mana!" she snapped, crossing her arms tightly across her breasts. "Physical and mental. And if you plan on doing that to Long or Yugo, I have to object."

"Considering that Yugo and Long do not have the brain waves necessary for me to transmit with, you need not," Mana replied. Nagi felt the urge to beat the serenity from the tiny priestess' bones. She stood up, her eyes meeting Nagi's as and adult's would. "As for Shina...I will try to be more gentle but we must prod her to prod events. Or–" her eyes sharpened nearly knocking Nagi off balance. "Do you need to be reminded of the consequences that will befall the rest of this world if we cannot convince the ones we need to move, Nagi."

The Spurious zoanthrope bristled at the tone, but she swallowed her pride and looked away. She turned, to infuriated with Mana and herself to argue further. However, she stopped at the doorway, and with out looking back asked, "Are you really so willing to sacrifice so much, so quickly Mana? Can you condemn others, Priestess? Because I don't think that I can." And she walked away, leaving a rather crestfallen Mana and Ryoho, in her wake. She didn't return to the temple until morning, and as she knew they would be, her bags were packed and setting upon the temple porch, along with one ticket to New York City. Nagi did not look back on the place.


	6. Encounters

Shina let out a howl as she returned to consciousness, pressing her hands over her ears, in a vain attempt to protect herself from HER laughter. She trembled; bringing her knees up to her chest, so close to sobbing that it was pathetic, trying to make the images that so burned in her mind fade. But to no avail, the bleeding sky and dead earth would not let her go, and all Shina could do was shut her eyes against reality.

"Shina, calm down, calm down!" a husky feminine voice broke in. "Lay still, all right? Just breathe and try to lay still." A cool hand pressed gently on her temples, stroking back her still sodden bangs. Shina felt calmed by the touch, comforted almost, and she obeyed, breathing as if she were meditating to lull the inane spasms. Her eyes remained shut tight, however, even when her convulsions ended.

"Okay," the voice cooed, continuing to caress her face gently. "Okay, good. Nothing's wrong. Now, I'm gonna help you sit up, right? Then I'm gonna go get a washcloth to clean your face up with. I won't be gone long, is that all right?"

Shina nodded, letting two capable arms pull her upright on the couch. The hand passed once more through her wet hair, worry radiating from the tips of its fingers, before footsteps clicked away into the kitchen area to turn on the sink. Shina's eyes were pressed together all the while.

"Chin up," the voice directed when it returned. Shina complied and was greeted by the feeling of a soft cloth against her nose, wiping her upper lip and around the nostrils. The young leopardess stuck her tongue out just far enough to catch a taste; sure enough salty copper coated the tip. For some reason, she didn't think this was a delayed reaction from boxing with Yugo a few days before.

"Jesus, little girl," the voice was joking as she cleaned the blood very delicately from Shina's face. "What _have_ you been doing since you moved to this place? Please don't tell me you've been snorting up cocaine." The words were meant as a joke, but by those words Shina finally realized who her care giver was, which dissolved any hopes of laughter. Rage evaporated the terror that the vision had left within the young zoanthrope as icy blue eyes shot open to meet a pair of concerned emerald ones.

Shina's upper lip curled in a snarl, as she, fighting to keep herself under control, asked Jenny, "What in the hell are _you_ doing here?"

Jenny blinked, and drawing back the hand that had been dabbing Shina's face. "Well," she finally said, "I guess maybe I should have called first? Huh?"

"Or maybe you shouldn't have come at all," Shina growled, standing up. "Just what in the hell do you think you're doing here, Burtory? Last time I checked, I'd told both you and my _father_, to stay the hell out of my life." She rubbed her still damp face on the fleecy white sleeve of her bathrobe.

"Shina," Jenny began in her most pacifying tones, rising, albeit more gracefully, to her feet as well. "I know how upset you still must be with us, but really, Alan and I–"

"NEITHER OF YOU KNOWS HOW I FEEL SO DON'T EVEN FUCKING TRY THAT ONE!" Shina yelled at the shapely blonde. Despite the force of the words, Jenny, did no more than blink a few times at the younger zoanthrope.

"Alan and I are worried about you," Jenny finished her sentence calmly, after a few moments of letting Shina pant and glare in her direction. She crossed her arms over her provocatively cut, red, business suit. "No letters, no calls, no emails in three months, we've been worried sick about you, Jane–"

"Oh don't," Shina cut in once more, though this time her voice carried a more quiet, yet equally venomous threat as compared to her earlier shout. Her eyes glowed a dangerous shade of blue. "Don't even think of using that with me, lady. That's _my name_. That is my _personal name_, only for people who haven't lied to me and whom I trust to use, so don't you even think of saying it. You _or_ Alan Gado." She added those last few words as a tactful afterthought that would be sure to pierce both Jenny and the other subject to the quick.

Jenny, whether she was hurt or not, didn't show it, however, and instead of looking down as Shina had intended for her to, stared back with unflinching green eyes and said, "I know. Who do you think gave it to you?"

Shina clenched her fists, it took everything inside of her to keep from leaping onto the older woman and taking her pretty head off.

"Get out of my house," she ordered, crossing her arms. "Get out right now. You have no right to be here, Burtory. I didn't invite you in and I don't want you to stay."

"Do you really think that all of this will go away just because you moved across an ocean, Shina?" Jenny asked, suddenly, her irises ringing with something the younger woman couldn't really name. "Do you think that just because you change how you live, where you live, and your creed, that your genetic makeup will dissolve into something you find more suitable for yourself? It won't."

"Get the hell out!" Shina growled, trembling once more, though this time with fury. "Leave right now!"

"Alan and I are what we are, Shina!" Jenny continued, somewhat unable to stop her rant. "Yes we've lied to you your entire life, but only because we thought it was what we had to do to protect you! And no amount of brooding, running, or time, will ever change the fact that twenty-four years ago I gave you life, Jane Burtory Gado!"

"GET OUT!" Shina was now screaming. "GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT! _GET OUT_!"

Jenny quaked at the look on Shina's face this time, knowing that she had pushed too far, too quickly with the girl. She swallowed, searching for something, anything, to say, but the damage had been done, and Jenny knew it. There were no words that could be offered up to Shina now; her offense was too great. The bat zoanthrope had forced the one word she'd kept from Shina's ears (in so many ways) down her throat. And there was nothing she could say to make up for it, of course, she knew there was no real way to make up for anything she had done in her daughter's life thus far. So she turned on the heel of her stiletto, and like so many years before, walked out the door.

In her wake Shina lifted up a glass she had left sitting on the end table by her phone that morning, and started to throw it with all of her strength at the door Jenny had just closed. Fortunately for Shina's front door, though, the grip she was putting down on the dish was just too much for it's smooth, crystalline surface to handle. Just as she raised her arm, Shina found it had already shattered into a million tiny pieces right in her hand.

She stood there, looking at her bloody right hand, feeling the sharp but melodic pain of the shards, as she continued to clench a fist. The leopardess swallowed hard before, very calmly, heading for the sink to wash her wound. She bandaged her palm, and swept up the broken pieces that were in the living room, before retreating back upstairs to dress and continue getting ready to meet her friends at Backlash's. In the truest ways of an emotional internalizer, Shina was going to push all that she felt to the back of her mind, for a later date, for when she could explode and take out Batwhore and Gado when it happened.

**Interlude**

"So what movie do you wanna go see?" Uriko asked her best friend, as they stood outside the Movie Theater in downtown Manhattan. "I vote we do the new Kung-Fu flick. It looks pretty sweet. I saw some chick doing a pretty convincing airborne roundhouse in the TV trailer." She did a high kick and a "hi-ya!" for emphasis but only managed to trip herself. Kenji, rolling his eyes, reached out to grab the sleeve of her jacket, yanking her upright before she could fall flat on her behind.

"You're hopeless," he informed her, crossing his arms as he let go of her sleeve. "Martial arts prodigy and you can't even keep your balance on the sidewalk, right..." He gave a rather derogatory snort, which Uriko replied to by stick her tongue out.

"Well you sure are in pissy mood," she said. Teasingly she stood behind him and threw her arms around his neck, jumping onto his back. "Who needs a hug!" she sang as Kenji flailed, attempting to get her off.

"Riko, would you knock it off!" he growled, reaching behind him and grabbing onto her leg yanking her off his back. He scowled at her as she tumbled to the ground, still grinning and snickering like a complete idiot. "Dammit, what is your problem–and what are you lookin at pal!" he directed this particularly biting remark to a man who'd stopped to stare at their antics a few feet away. He blanched from the look on Kenji's face, nearly sprinting down the sidewalk.

"Kenji, what's wrong with you?" Uriko asked as she picked herself up, worriedly looking over the other teenager.

"What' wrong with me!" he demanded incredulously. "Me! What in the hell's wrong with you, Riko? You're seventeen years old and you act like you're twelve! When in the hell are you gonna drop the immaturity act and grow the fuck up!" His eyes burned on her face as he spat those last few lines out, shoulders heaving as he tried to regain the breath he'd wasted on his little rant. Uriko meanwhile, drew down her eyebrows with worry. Kenji, was her best friend, he didn't yell at her, or at least he hadn't before. She stared at him, trying to hide the hurt looming behind her cocoa colored eyes, and after a few moments, Kenji sighed and turned away, crossing his arms once more.

"I'm sorry, Riko," he sighed finally, running a hand through his unruly brown hair. "Really...I–what movie did you want to see again?"

"Kung-Fu Dynamos," she said sort of distractedly. "Kenji...what happened today? What's wrong, bro?"

"Nothing," he said, with a careless shrug. Her reached down, taking hold of Uriko's hand to help her up off the pavement, before leading her over to the box office. Uriko kept her mouth shut until they were inside the theater, in the dark showing room.

"Kenji, seriously, what's going on with you?" she questioned again, as they settled into their seats in the back-most corner (they liked throwing Skittles at people who kissed during shows).

"Nothing," he answered quickly, as she knew he would, he grabbed his drink up and put the straw to his lips, avoiding Uriko's narrowed brown eyes.

"Nothing my foot, Kenji Ohgami," Uriko hissed throwing a Skittle at his head. "You've got something bugging you, and you'd better tell me now!"

"Yeah, I've got something bugging me!" he retorted, voice low as hers had been. "I'm looking at her right now!"

"Kenji!" she whined shaking his arm. "Come on! You know I won't leave you alone until you do!" A threat and a promise all at once, and Kenji knew it.

The mole zoanthrope let out an agitated sigh as he looked into Uriko's stubborn brown eyes. He took a long drink out of his cup. "I almost did a complete three-sixty this morning at the park," Kenji finally told her, staring down at his sneakers.

Uriko, who had been expecting something more dramatic, like a problem with Yugo or something at the W.O.C., let out a groan.

"Are you kidding me, Kenji?" she demanded under her breath. "Are you freaking kidding me? You're all wound up because of the other kids at the skate-park almost found out you were a halfway decent boarder? You ass! I thought it was something serious!" And she threw yet another Skittle at his head, just to get her point across.

"It _is_ serious, Riko!" he exclaimed. "I can't let myself get too competitive that happens and _he_ could come back!"

"Oh, Kenji, would you give it a rest!" she moaned, putting a hand to her forehead. "Bakaryu–"

"_Don't say that name_!" Kenji hissed fiercely, grasping Uriko by her arm, squeezing hard to make a point. "Do not say that name," he repeated letting her loose.

Uriko let out a sigh as she pulled her arm away, rubbing it. "Kenji, you worry over nothing, you know," she said trying to comfort him as best she could. "That part of you...it went away a long time ago, man. You're just Kenji now, Kenji Ohgami _not_ _Bakaryu_." She emphasized the word, making him look into her eyes as she said it. "That means you're Yugo's little brother, an A honor roll student, and _my_ best friend." Uriko smiled into Kenji's amber eyes, slinging an arm around his shoulders to rest her forehead to his as she did. "You're not an assassin anymore Kenji, and it ain't exactly like you had a choice in it the first time either." She reached up to ruffle his already unkempt hair. "Now cheer the hell up! You're no fun when you're stressing."

Kenji chuckled, rolling his eyes at her, but feeling much better nonetheless. As utterly goofy and childish as Uriko could be at times, she had the amazing ability to make him feel better no matter what. He was about to voice this to her when a couple of Skittles rebounded against their still very close heads.

"God dammit who did that!" Uriko screeched jumping up in her seat, ready to rip the first person that sniggered a new one. Kenji shook his head, smiling despite his embarrassment. Wordlessly he reached up to grab the back of his best friend's jacket and pull her back down into her seat. Sometimes Uriko was as apt at stressing him as she was at making him feel better. Of course in the end, he was pretty confident that's why he was enamored with her.

**Interlude**

"Is it just me or does Long look a little..." Alice began to muse as she and Yugo watched their friend talk to a woman on the dance floor.

"Outta place?" Yugo finished for her.

"Yeah," Alice agreed, shortly thereafter Long bowed away from the slightly confused looking girl, and returned to their table.

"What in the hell!" Yugo exclaimed as Long started to sit down again. "Long, I thought she was into you?"

"She said she found me attractive if that's what you mean," Long told him as he sank down into his chair. He adjusted glasses for the millionth time that evening.

Yugo glared at him. "Then–why–what in the hell is wrong with you, Long!" the wolf demanded, staring at him in utter disbelief. "Did you even look at her! Dude, she was a total fox!–And before you say a damn thing, Alice, I'm not staring at other girls, but I do know the difference between a hottie and a sea-hag." He gave his girlfriend a sidelong scowl that reflected her own raised eyebrows and sour twist of the lip.

"Just because I don't care to jump into the nearest available lady's bed, does not mean that there's something wrong with me, Yugo," Long informed him, taking a sip of the fruit juice he'd ordered.

"Yeah, it just means that Long–unlike some people I know–has a few morals left," Alice defended, guiltlessly glowering at her boyfriend.

Yugo threw up his hands. "Fuck it, I'm damned no matter what I say, aren't I?" he moaned staring down at the table in defeat.

"That's usually how it works," a familiar voice joked. The three zoanthropes looked up to see Shina as she flopped down into the seat opposite Yugo and next to Long.

"Dude, it took you long enough!" Yugo exclaimed, glad he would finally have someone on his side there.

"Yeah, we'd all totally given up on you, Shin," Alice agreed, biting her tongue afterward to keep from saying anything about the clothes Shina had chosen for that evening, no doubt just to torment her. She wore a pair of black and red bondage shorts that rose low on her hips, a crimson wife beater that showed off her black bra in some areas, black leather armbands, and, of course_, the boots_. Alice felt her eyebrow twitching.

As if Shina noticed this, which, hey, she probably did considering Yugo had just yelped from the pain his girlfriend was inflicting upon his soon to be crushed hand, the leopardess looked straight into Alice's eyes and said, "Hi, Al, how's your night been?" Again Alice's eyebrow twitched and she let go of poor Yugo to stand.

"Excuse me," she said between clenched teeth and a put on smile. "But I have to visit the little bunny's room." And shortly after stalked off to keep from shouting at her friend.

"Hey, bring me back a beer, would you Al?" Shina called at her retreating backside. Alice let out a little shriek before running out of sight. Yugo and Shina laughed outright while Long chuckled into his sleeve.

"So I take it I haven't missed much?" the blonde asked as she propped her feet up on the table, grinning over at Yugo.

"No, not at all," Yugo sighed taking a drink of his beer. "Alice and I danced a little but mostly we've been sitting here, watching Tiger boy here turn down all the hot bodies that come his way." He scowled at Long who continued to stare back aloofly.

Shina glanced at her friend, giving him a silent appraisal and once over. He'd actually done' a pretty good job of picking out his own "modern" clothes. A dark green turtle neck that wasn't too baggy, black slacks, and a pair of non-pointy shoes. He'd taken out is braid, probably Alice's doing, to throw his long ebony mane back into a simple tail. For the first time since meeting him Shina thought Long's appearance to be...normal.

"Well doesn't someone clean up purty like?" she teased reaching over to pinch Long's cheek. He smacked her hand away while Yugo guffawed into his bottle, face tinging just a little pink. "Honestly, had I not been friends with you these last ten or so years I would not have recognized you–in Shay stadium."

"I hope that was a compliment," the scholarly fighting master said drawing his eyes down at Shina, a smile playing on his lips nonetheless.

Shina shrugged, smiling in an all too innocent manner.

"So what took you so long?" Yugo asked Shina. "We waited outside for you almost an hour, babes. What were you doing? Smacking around the punching bag in your basement until like fifteen minutes after we were supposed to meet?" He chuckled, missing the look on Shina's face entirely, Long, on the other hand, was far more perceptive, and after glancing at the clouds forming in the young woman's eyes, reached over to very lightly tough her shoulder.

"Shina?" he question when her eyes met his. "Shina, did something happen before you came here? You seem distracted."

Shina, looked down at her hands, both Yugo and Long, now noticed the white bandages so neatly wrapped about her right fist. Yugo, blinked, and reacting first, leaned across the table to grasp her palm in his, looking over her slender digits, so carefully wrapped in white gauze.

"What did you do?" Yugo asked his friend, screwing his face up as he noted some red seeping through on her palm. "Shina, what the hell did you do to your hand?"

The blonde zoanthrope pursed her lips, staring resolutely into the shining blackish-brown surface of the table, Long and Yugo both knew that face all to well. It was the one she'd been putting on since she was thirteen and didn't want to talk about something rather emotional that had befallen her. Gado had once nicknamed it her "clam face".

Yugo was about to demand an answer from Shina when Alice returned, bubbly once more, and carrying two beers, one for Shina and refill for him. Alice herself was done with her second margarita, meaning she didn't notice or care when Shina jerked her bandaged hand away from Yugo and Long's peeling gaze.

"Hey, you like Heineken, right?" Alice asked, cheerfully setting the drink down before her friend.

"If it has alcohol in it, I love it," Shina joked, trying to shake the feeling of awkwardness her two best friends had just unnecessarily filled the air with. She took a long drink, avoiding the eyes of Yugo and Long as she attempted the whole bottle in one gulp. She got it and, after a rather unladylike burp that made Alice cringe, stood up and grabbed the rabbit by the hand.

"Come on, Bunny, I'm bored as hell and there's no way I'm going to try and groove with the wet tiger or your man," she told Alice, putting an arm possessively around her friend's waist.

Alice, playing along, laid a hand against her chest, feigning prissy shock. "What?" she exclaimed, fuchsia eyes wide. "Shina, are you suggested girl on girl dancing?"

"I might be," Shina chuckled putting on hand on her hip and tossing her head to the side. "What if I am?"

"Then I would have to say you need to get your little ass out on the floor and stop makin me wait!" Alice giggled, and gave Shina playful little smack on her rear-end before heading onto the dance floor.

"You did _not_ just smack my ass!" Shina exclaimed staring after Alice, who was laughing her head off. She glanced over at Yugo and Long who were watching the two girls with astonished faces. "Did you see that! She touched my butt! Alice you little trollop!" She called after the auburn haired woman, who was grinning back. "That is so _not_ cool! I'm the macho-girl, if either of us is gonna be smackin the other's ass, it's gonna be me!" And she charged after Alice, who gave out a squeak as Shina grabbed her around the waist and started swinging her around.

Long and Yugo watched them, Long in somewhat shock, Yugo, with a grimace.

"And just why are you scowling?" Long questioned him. "Usually when two girls are that close to one another, you're drooling."

"Eww!" Yugo exclaimed his disdain deepening. "Not when it's my girlfriend and _Shina_! Gross! She's practically my sister!" He grinned just a little as raised his drink once more to his lips. "Now Alice and that girl you turned down a few minutes ago...I'd so be there." He chuckled and took a heavy drink while Long frowned at him.

Meanwhile Shina and Alice proceeded to goof around on the floor, making some guys drool and even some women raise their eyebrows. Shina thought it was all rather funny, how easy it was too make some of those people salivate, especially since she and Alice were two of the straightest women around and had about as much interest in one another as Long did in Yugo. They giggled as they danced around one another, both of them enjoying the mixed reactions they got from other club goers. It was so much fun that when Yugo came over, to steal Alice away, Shina was felt a slight air of melancholy come over her.

A fast beat started up and Shina looked about, Alice and Yugo were a few feet away, acting like a couple of hormonally driven teens, and Long was sinking down into his seat at their table. Shina frowned at the sight of her oldest friend looking so out of his habitat. This hadn't been all that good an idea, she decided, Long should have been eased into places like this, if even introduced at all. They should have started him out at a coffeehouse or a library, that would have been the most sensible choice, as he was a scholar. But no, brilliantly she had gone along with Alice—_with Alice_—and now Long was looking as if his skin was itching from the inside out. She bit down on her lip, this, in a way was her fault. She was about to make her way over to him, offer to take him home, but when she turned to avoid a flock of rather slutty looking girls, Shina found her way of getting to him a bit blocked off.

Red daiquiri mix flew through the air as Shina's lissome figure crashed against a taller form. The impact, very surprisingly, was strong enough to send her stumbling back a few feet, she might have tripped and fallen, had a long fingered hand not shot out to grasp her forearm. Surprised by the quick reflexes of her crashing buddy, Shina looked up to meet a pair of vivid amethyst eyes.

"Are you okay?" her savior, a man, asked her, voice worried. Shina's breath caught in her chest preventing an answer.

He was one of the better-looking guys Shina had seen in her stay in Manhattan, maybe even in her stay anywhere. His face was pale, lean, cut and crafted like a sculptor would design, an almost feminine caste to his lineaments. The handsome face was played upon by straight, shoulder length black and violet hair, streaked to complement his striking eyes, of course. He contrasted the femininity of his face by a hard, lithe body, slender but not useless, which he showed it off by wearing his jeans tight and low about his waist and leaving his shirt wide open. He wanted to be looked at; he wanted attention in a blatant and girlish fashion. But there was a hunger, almost like a predator's; burning beneath that attractive face that proved he was all but feminine in nature.

"Huh?" Shina felt herself saying, despite the fact that she knew what he had asked. Her mind wasn't really processing things like words for a few seconds there.

Violet eyes gleamed with a smile, as hands belonging to those eyes steadied Shina. "I asked if you were okay," he repeated, laughter making little creases at the corners of his eyes.

"Oh—yeah, sorry," Shina said with a nervous little laugh. _What the hell?_ She thought to herself as soon as that escaped her lips. _Since when do guys have this effect on me? This isn't natural!_ She lowered her gaze for an instant; catching sight of a well developed six-pack_. Of course I really don't think he's natural either… _Averting her eyes to the side before he could catch her staring, Shina noticed several smatterings of red that tainted his white shirt.

"Oh shit, I'm sorry!" she exclaimed, pointing out the stains with a shameful grimace.

The man looked down, raising his eyebrows, just a little, tugging at the garment. He looked at the splatter for a few moments, then with a shrug, took the napkins he'd been carrying along with his drink to casually brush the majority of the mess off.

"Oh well," he said almost cheerfully, giving a little shrug, as he finished mopping up the daiquiri. "I'll just get a new one."

"I am _really_ sorry," Shina apologized yet again. "I should learn to look where the hell I'm goin' once in awhile."

Her new acquaintance chuckled. "Why on earth train yourself to do that?" he asked, his grin slightly infectious, as Shina felt the very corners of her mouth twitch. "You stop running into people and you'll have no way of meeting them."

It was at this point that Shina realized the man's hand had slipped from her forearm down to her wrist, overlapping her own. She noted how spindly and thin her callused fingers appeared in his wide palm, Shina also took note of how their flesh contrasted, white encircling fading caramel.

"My name's Sying," he offered to Shina before she could become too startled and jerk her hand away.

"Sying?" she repeated, eyebrows raised. She knew little Chinese, as Long did French, but they'd learned enough from on another for Shina to know that _Sying_, in Chinese, meant something like "Star".

Sying, guessing at what made the right side of her mouth turn up, chuckled and made a rather understanding face. "I know," he sighed. "My parents weren't all that okay upstairs, I'm guessing my mom used to be a hippie. My friends call me Sy though—you can too, if you want." That invitation belied more than a simple name, and Shina knew it did.

"Shina," she told him, slipping her hand into his to shake it.

It was now Sy's turn to cock an elegant black brow. "Shina?" he chuckled. "Call me strange, but you certainly don't look Japanese."

"Worse," she joked, though her features were very serious. "French. But _my_ parents, too, weren't all there." _Not a lie_, she thought bitterly to herself.

Sy continued to chuckle as he brought Shina's hand to his lips, gracing her callused digits with a kiss. Shina felt chills resonate through the core of her being.

"_Heureux pour vous rencontrer_, then, Shina," he said in a soft voice, eyes smolderingly touching over her face.

"_Le plaisir est le mien_," she said as a familiar feeling began to creep through her skin. She smiled with sincerity.

"So would you like—" he began.

"Love to," she finished for him.

Again Sy's left eyebrow went up, though he continued to grin. Willingness was always a good thing, and understanding that, he wasted no time with Shina, and grabbing her roughly by the hip, pulled her into the middle of the floor, and closer into him.

_Hey sister why you all alone?_

_I'm standing out your window_

_Hey little sister can I come inside there?_

_I want to show you all my love _

_I want to be the only one_

_I know you like nobody ever, baby _

Shina, slightly turned on by the possessiveness, played his game…for a little while. She let him hold her, direct her movements, and push against her for a few moments, playing docile. Then, as Sy attempted to press his hip between her legs, Shina moved a little to the right, to press her hip into him. Once again that one studded eyebrow went up as the leopardess started to toy with him. She made out somewhat like a house cat, rubbing against him at all the right times, running her fingers along all the right places, but moving just out of his reach when he tried to reverse their parts once again.

_Little sister can't you find another way?_

_No more living life behind a shadow_

_Little sister can't you find another way?_

_No more living life behind a shadow_

At some point a battle for complete dominance started up, both Shina and Sy vying to control the other. She was moving to the left when his hand moved out, too fast for her to slink away from, and grasped her hip more firmly than before, pulling her back up against him. Feminine curves met hard muscles as they both continued to grind. Waves of heat raced down Shina's spine as the hand Sy had used to grab her with slid farther up her side, stroking, before slipping into the small of her back. Shina almost let out a leopard-like growl, liking the contact to an extreme; of course she also had to combat this.

_You whisper secrets in my ear_

_Slowly dancing cheek to cheek_

_Such a sweet thing when you open up, baby_

_They say I'll only do you wrong_

_Come together cause I understand_

_Just who you really are yeah, baby_

Sy pushed against her, as if trying to bend her backwards, yet another controlling move, but Shina refused to give in. She pressed back with equal fierceness and heat, catching Sy off guard, in the end however, he smiled, licking his lips and continuing their dance. Hands slipped closer and more securely around one another's bodies, fiendishly provoking wherever they grazed. The fire within Shina intensified as Sy's fingertips traveled up her spin, crawling to the back of her neck. Sky blue looked into violet for a few long seconds, then, slowly, he leaned down and she stood on her tiptoes.

_Little sister can't you find another way? _

_No more living life behind a shadow_

_Little sister can't you find another way?_

_No more living life behind a shadow _

Pure electricity, that was all Shina could think of to describe the feeling that went through her when Sy pressed his lips to hers. She felt a little gasp escape her throat as he pushed her head back, forcing her mouth to open wider and gaining entry. The leopardess was not taken aback for very long, as she initiated a second type of supremacy battle. Pressed so close to him, Shina felt the laughter emanating from her dancing partner before she could even hear it. His chuckling only added to the heat fanning inside of the young zoanthrope, and had a feeling this night was going to get very interesting.

Or at least she thought it was going to, until Sy pulled away from her. Granted he did it slowly, savoring the taste of her as if to keep it forever, but when Shina attempted to initiate another passionate kiss he stopped her, continuing to hold her close but evading her caress. She looked up at him, a million thoughts buzzing through her somewhat heated brain, the foremost being that she shouldn't be _this_ easy, and that she was about ready to push him down onto the floor.

"I'm sorry, kitten, but I have to go now," he whispered in her ear, leaning down so that his lips just barely brushed against her lobe. Another ecstatic trill shot through the leopardess, and she felt her fingers tighten into the fabric of his shirt. The trills intensified as he let his mouth travel up the side of her face to meet hers. She started to open her mouth but he did not take the hint, and, almost coyly, nipped her lower lip.

"Don't worry, though, _chaton_," Sy continued to whisper, the edge of his mouth just barley caressing hers as he spoke. "We'll be seeing one another again soon enough." And after planting on last kiss on her expectant lips, Sy let go of Shina, and disappeared into the crowd, leaving a very frustrated female leopardess in his wake.

Shina stood completely still for a few moments, on hand pressed over her thigh, the place he had been gripping so tight. She swallowed hard, running her tongue across the inside of her mouth, the ghost of his lips continued to linger over her own. Finally, she let out aggravated growl and made for her original destination. Whether Long wanted to or not, Shina was going home right at that moment, she would irritably tell him. Then he could wait on Yugo and Alice, who were practically entwined in one another that second on the dance floor. As she brooded and stormed of Shina forgot to admit that, had he not just left her there, she might have been doing that same sort of thing with Sy. Instead she was going to go back to her place and find the bottle of vodka she kept around for occasions like this and shower. Sy didn't know what he had missed.

"Yo, you ready to go?" she demanded of Long as soon as she came within earshot of their table.

The scholar looked over his shoulder in surprise. "Yes, of course," he said, sounding somewhat relieved (she didn't blame the guy). "But shouldn't we wait for—"

"No," she growled. "Trust me they're gonna be awhile. Now are you comin' with me or are you gonna stay here and sit? Decide now because my jeep's pullin' out of the lot in the next two minutes." And without another word she stormed off in the direction of the Exit.

As startled as he was by his friend's outburst and sudden urge to leave without saying anything to Yugo and Alice, Long did not question Shina or her mood. He simply jumped to his feet and rushed to follow her out before she left him. After all, Long reasoned when the urge to ask her where her sudden burst of ire came from, he was only thirty-two years old and as far as he was concerned that was too young to die just yet.

_**Authors Note:** I hope you liked Chapter 6 (well technically chapter 5). I just want to let everyone know chapter 7 is under construction even as this is being read but it will take a bit of time to post if I don't get any good reviews over this, so... Thanks to all my reviewers, Tigerboy11, Mack, Aimielee, and Tiger5913. Oh and the song Shina and Sy danced to is called "Little Sister" and it was written by Queens Of The Stoneage, it's all theirs, I take no credit for it's conception._


	7. Vigils

**Read Please! Authors notes**_ Hi, and thanks for reading Dark Heavens. Just to let all of the faithful know, the rating is probably going to switch from T to M, just because there are some pretty graphic scenes that will be coming up in later chapters so make a note that if you can't see Dark Heavens on the first page for awhile, switch your ratings from K—to—T to All. Thanks again to everyone who reads and reviews me. Oh and also as a Not I would like to stress that until I get at least two reviews for this chapter or the story in general, I'm not uploading chapter seven. Please read and review because I'd really like to make this story better for your reading pleasure and any and all comments help me to do that. I'd also like to make say a special thanks to my reviewers thus far: Hybrid Thing, Macky, Tiger5913, Tigerboy111, and Aimeelee. So one last time thanks and please remember this memo._

Calloused fingertips dragged slowly through pale silver hair as their owner scanned the room for traces of light. Reiji blinked his dark eyes, trying to recall what had woken him up from his—for once—dreamless sleep in the first place. He licked paper dry lips, rubbing his still clouded and "fuzzy" feeling eyeballs and waiting for them to moisten before taking a peep at the bedside alarm clock. He wrinkled his noise up upon seeing the time; 4:45 in the morning.

_What in the hell?_ He thought in absolute disgust. Reiji did _not_ get up before nine am on any morning unless he had to go to the bathroom, and he certainly did not feel like he had to take a piss at the moment. He was about to reach into the nightstand drawer and pull out two Tylenol PM, so he could knock himself out until a more decent time (like noon), when the reason to why he'd woken up in the first place came back.

A knock, more forceful than the first ones that had roused him from slumber, was coming from the front door of his small apartment.

Reiji let out a small moan. Who in the fuck would be visiting him at this hour?

At first he contemplated telling whoever had stumbled their way to his doorstep off, and in a very rude manner too. But considering the possibility that it might be an attractive young lady he worked with by the name of Maria, who had, on more than one occasion, offered to visit him some lonely night, the Crow-man opted for answering the door.

"Just a minute!" he called, voice still thick from sleep as he pushed back the thin blankets on his bed away to swing his legs over the side of his pullout. He grabbed the first pair of jeans he could lay his hands onto, pulling them quickly onto his muscular and very nude form.

"Hurry, the hell up, Reiji!" a voice, definitely female, but muffled by the walls and door, called out somewhat agitatedly.

Reiji grinned as he fumbled with the zipper on his jeans. If Maria was cranky, then that meant she was probably a little drunk, and a little drunk…His grin deepened.

"Jesus, babe, hold your horses, I'm coming as quick as I can!" he retorted, flicking on the lights and scrambling to pick up the place before going to the door.

"Well you'd better hurry a little faster, jackass, or I'm leaving!" the voice warned.

Reiji laughed outright as he stuffed a couple of pizza boxes down into the trash can hidden behind the kitchen counter. Deciding the place looked decent enough he made for the door once again. "Jesus, Maria, are you jonesing for me that bad? Lucky for you I'm in the right kind of mood to help you out." He opened the door intending for the awaiting damsel to fall passionately into his arms. Instead the woman on the other side crossed her arms, and gave him a less than impassioned stare with her dually colored eyes.

"Thanks, but I hardly need any help from you in that department, Reij," Nagi said rather dully. "And since when in the hell do I go by Maria?"

"Nagi?" Reiji asked in slight disbelief. He blinked; trying to verify it was really his best friend. "Nagi, how—why—what are you—"

Nagi chuckled uncrossing her arms to shove them into the pockets of her jeans. "Yeah, loser, it's me, you can stop blinking, I'm not going to disappear," she told him. "Now close your mouth and open the door, we've got to talk, and I don't have much time." Her eyes flashed dark for a second, and Reiji could see seriousness in her that almost startled him.

Reiji drew his eyebrows downward. "Come on," he said immediately stepping aside, ushering her in. Reiji noted the duffle bag she carried over one shoulder, and the travel boots she wore, this did not bode very well with him.

"So what brings you to my humble Tokyo Palace at four A.M.—_without a hug_—so urgently?" Reiji asked Nagi after she had sunk down into the nearest chair. Her face looked more tired and care-worn, and that worried Reiji, considering she was so world-weary already at her young age.

Nagi smiled and rolled her eyes at her friend, "Stop whining, stupid," she ordered, though laughter was betrayed in her undertones, and she stood up to open her arms. Reiji embraced her immediately; hugging her so tight that Nagi feared he was trying to pop her head off. She couldn't blame him, though, she'd missed him just as much since they hadn't seen one another in over a year, and she hugged back with equal ferocity.

"You been okay?" he asked gruffly, pushing her back an arm's length. "Retreating in the mountains with the Dragon freak and the kid hasn't been too boring has it?" The joke sparkled in his eyes and brought a smile to Nagi's own lips.

"Oh no, a barrel full of laughs every single day," Nagi drawled, the sarcasm in her eyes ass think as venom. The darkness shimmered beneath her irises once again. "That's—um—kinda why I'm here, Reij."

Again, Reiji narrowed his eyes on his friend's pale face; he did not like this at all.

"What's going on?" he asked immediately, sitting down opposite Nagi on his creaky mattress. Resting his elbows on his knees, he met his best friend's eyes levelly, ready to take in all the news she had for him…he hoped. Nagi assumed a similar position, though she crossed her legs.

"Okay," she began taking a breath. "I—I don't know all that much about everything really. I—I've only got some bits and pieces. Little things I've seen, little things I can get from Mana's damn ramblings—" Reiji laughed outright, no one liked Mana's speeches, hell no one really liked Mana besides Ryoho, and he…well the entire group had speculations on that one.

"The point is," Nagi continued, trying not to smile or make a face over his comment. "There's…there's something that's going to happen, and chances are it's not gonna be good."

The look on the crow zoanthrope's face switched from curious to outright worried.

"What do you mean not good?" he demanded. "What kind of not good Nagi?"

"Not good, as in _bad_, Reiji," she retorted, rolling her as at him.

"How bad?"

"Bad as in I've got a ticket to Manhattan because I need to get in contact with the W.O.C., and some of the others from our little group, particularly Shina, Long, and Yugo."

Reiji's dark eyes grew wide as he processed these words through his head. His shoulders and his body went a little limp and he slid lower onto his seat.

Nagi, slightly worried by that action, reached across the distance and placed a stable hand on his forearm. He looked up to meet her eyes, finding a calm reassurance in them that he really needed to see.

"You want me to go with you, don't you Nagi?" he asked, seeing the question in her irises before her lips even moved.

She gave him a wry, half-smile. "How do you do that?" she chuckled. Nagi didn't bother waiting on him to answer. "Yeah, yeah, I do. I have a feeling that I'll need my partner for this new…whatever in the hell this is going to be."

"Adventure?" he suggested, the unbreakable sense of humor Nagi had become so used to returning already.

"One way to put it," Nagi said with a thoughtful shrug. "Another way is suicide mission. Especially when I go talk to Shina."

Reiji cocked an eyebrow. "Should I even ask about that?"

"No," Nagi sighed, pushing the hair back out of her eyes. "No, you shouldn't." She bit down on her plush lower lip. "It's bad enough I even have to think about it." Nagi let out another sigh. "I hate being the fucking messenger," she moaned. "They always shoot the fucking messenger."

"Nag, I hardly think Shina will kill you," Reiji said, now taking his turn to be the reassuring friend. "But then again I have no idea what you'll be telling her, so…" His eyes gleamed wickedly, and Nagi scowled reaching up to cuff him.

"You're such a good friend, you know that?" she said.

"You're best," he joked.

"Well, _best friend_, I hate to be so blunt but are you in?" she asked crossing her arms tightly over her white T-shirt. "Because we have five hours to prepare before our plane leaves."

The silver haired man looked Nagi, over; he really didn't want to do this sort of thing over again. Reiji'd had enough when fucking Ryoho's inner demon had almost been unleashed and he, Nagi, and the other zoanthropes in their knowledgeable little circle, had almost been killed. He most definitely did not want to have to go through that sort of thing ever again. Reiji was happy right there in Tokyo, in his little apartment, at his nice job as a software developer, he had no need to change it or any want to change it. Still…it _was_ Nagi asking him, and if things were even half as big as she'd been hinting at, then, one way or another he was most likely going to be pulled in any case…

With a sigh he looked back up at Nagi. "Okay, you've got me I'll go," he told her. "But—" He shot in when Nagi began to smile. He grinned a little more devilishly than he had before, and Nagi could read the look in his eyes a mile away. "_But_, I need you to do something for me."

Nagi raised her eyebrows. "Oh, really, and just exactly what would that be, Reiji?"

"You know what," he chuckled standing to grasp her hand and pull her to her feet. His hands slipped down about her waist, fingertips slipping between her shirt and jeans to caress the bare skin underneath. He dipped his head down just a little to press his lips to hers, or at least, he tried. Nagi didn't kiss back and When Reiji looked up at her with more than just a little bit of question in his eyes, she gave him only a dry face as she pushed him back a foot or so.

"Reiji, you remember that time you asked me why Shina, Alice, and Long thought you were tasteless and egotistical?" she questioned.

"Yeah…"

"Well this is why," she said and pushed him back so that he was once more sitting on the bed. "Now zip your fly up and go pack." Her hands moved to her hips, a no-nonsense position that told Reiji not to disobey. "Besides," she added with a certain smile that he, in his personal opinion, had not seen enough in his lifetime. "It's a fourteen hour plane ride, my friend…we'll have time to kill. Now, where the fuck is your bathroom?"

Reiji grinned and pointed to one of only two doors in the room. Nagi gave him a wink before sauntering towards it. Reiji smiled at her retreating backside, despite the feeling in the pit of his stomach that all hell was going to break loose, he was going to be enjoying the _journey_ to Manhattan at least.

**Interlude**

The shadows in pre-dawn New York were intense, like demons beneath the soft moonlight and shallow glare of the street lamps. Of course that's when they were the most beautiful, at least that's what Dr. Stephan Goldberg, or more commonly on the streets, Stun, thought of them. He was a night owl to the truest form, loved the dark, loved the night sky, loved the sounds, but most of all e loved to watch the people as they milled around. All sorts of interesting people moved around the city in the night. Thugs, Dock workers, drunkards, strippers, ladies of the evening and their clientele, they all moved about freely in the night, seeking for things he, and sometimes they, could only wonder about. There was only one person he knew was seeking something for sure, and he was about to meet her.

"What's up bat brain?" he greeted Jenny, turning to meet her before she'd even landed.

"The sky of course, Bug-boy," she joked, reverting from her bat form and into her human. She tossed back her golden blonde hair as she adjusted her suit. She smiled and stepped over to clasp his wide blue palm. "And how have you been, old friend? I trust you've been well enough?"

"Fine, I'm always, fine, you know that, Jen," Stun told her with a chuckle. "And you? The life of an international intelligence officer's still keeping you well, I can see."

"Work has been fine," she told him. "Or it was the last time I did any of it. I took some time off, for…personal reasons." The smile on her full carmine lips faded into a melancholy line that Stun truly hated to see.

"Shina?" he asked. "She's still not speaking to you or Alan?"

Jenny shook her head, shoulders rigid and defensive even then. "No," the former model said, shaking her head, eyes glimmering with a pain that he could never understand. "I—I tried to talk to her earlier this evening but…well…I don't think it could have gone _worse_, let's say." Jenny chuckled morosely, for a moment Stun could have sworn that he'd seen moisture in his old friend's eyes but the moment he blinked it was gone and Jenny was smiling at him.

"I'm sorry, Jenny," he offered in the most sincere and supportive voice that he could manage. He patted her arm. "Just…give her time…she can't hate you both that much."

Jenny gave him a disquieting look that told Stun she questioned that very much.

"I only hope that she doesn't blast Alan too badly when _he_ comes to see her Tuesday," she said. "He wants her to go to Brazil with him and the team so badly he'd cut his arm off for it."

"I still say that you should tell her the reason you revealed the past to her to begin with," Stun said, crossing his arms as he rebuked Jenny with his intelligent eyes. "Maybe if you let her know that the woman who brought her into the world was soon going to—"

"_No_!" Jenny cut him off harshly, emerald eyes ablaze. "No, no, and _no_. A million times _no_." Jenny took a deep breath and let it out slowly. "I can't do that to her, Steph, it's not—not—_fair_."

"Neither is Shina's running away," Stun reminded her.

Jenny shook her head in adamant disagreement. "She had every right to be angry with us, especially with me," she defended the girl. "I can't blame her for doing something that I would have done and I'm not going to forge a relationship out of her with a guilt trip. That's not the right way, it's sneaky, and I can't do that to Shina. Especially with all the tales I've already spun around her."

Stun looked away, he knew that Jenny was right, and he felt very sorry for Shina. Still, when he saw how this whole situation with the younger woman was rending poor Jenny's heart to bits, it was very hard for the big beetle-man not to be more than a little upset with Shina. Besides, unlike Stun, Shina did not have the whole idea of what was going on with the bat zoanthrope, and he was sure that if she did, Gado's daughter would be singing a different tune when it came to Jenny's revelations.

"So what did you want to tell me?" Jenny asked him after a few moments of composure gathering silence. "Your phone call sounded pretty urgent."

"It was…in a way," Stun told her with a shrug of his massive blue shoulders. "I'm actually not so sure what to file this one under Jen."

The blonde raised an exquisitely arched eyebrow.

"Follow me," he said motioning for her to follow him before turning to the rooftop door that opened up on the building's stairwell to go in. Jenny trailed her friend down six or seven stories, past all the floors and into the bowels of the building, trekking into a basement below the basement and boiler room. A basement that one had to pass through sliding metal doors with an access code to get into, and that looked about as much like a basement as Jenny's penthouse in the Hamptons did. Of course it wasn't as lavish as all that, it was simply very well lit and it had many different rooms, like an underground housing system, which is exactly what it was.

"Nice place," Jenny murmured as Stun ushered her into the front hallway. "I wish I knew how you stretched your budget this far, Steph. Because it certainly looks like I wrote a check for twenty million instead of five."

"Simple, we take care of only the necessities down here," Stun told her with a chuckle, leading her from the first hallway and into another, wider, and longer one. Like the entrance it was well lit, with a homey atmosphere to it instead of sterile, six doors standing on each side. He glanced at Jenny through the corner of his eye and smiled. "That and unlike you, old friend, no one down here has an unworn designer gown for each day over the next ten years."

"Your charges?" Jenny asked nodding to the doors, ignoring the jibe, though the corners of her mouth were wrinkling.

"Two of them are the children's bedrooms, yes," Stun said motioning to the first doors on each side. "Bathrooms are there," he pointed to third and fourth pairs. "That's the activity room," the fifth door on the left. "The library." Fifth on the right. "And the last two are my quarters and private study."

"Very nice," Jenny commended him. "You've been more thrifty with my money than I have."

"Jenny, dear, a compulsive gambler would be more thrifty with your money than you would," he teased, earning a dry look from the woman along with a soft punch in the arm. "

You're so funny."

"I know," he chuckled as he put a hand on the very last door at the halls end. He began to open it while saying, "This is our kitchen by the way—" And as he opened up the door a roll of white smoke greeted him and Jenny. Both shielded their eyes against the cloud, coughing, as they had not moved quickly enough. When the fog faded, both Jenny and Stun found themselves dusted with what appeared to be a light coating of powdered sugar, and a bear cub wearing a pair of pajamas staring at on the other side of the door. In the cub's paws there was a rather large and overturned container of powdered sugar.

There were a few moments of stunned silence before anyone could speak.

"Well, speak of the devil," Stun chuckled finally. He looked over at Jenny, "This is Ursula, Jen, she's one of my charges." To the little girl he smiled and said, "Good morning, Ursula, you're up very early this morning, aren't you?"

Almost at once the child dropped the empty sugar container and reverted to her human form, that of an adorable brown haired and eyed girl with a cherub's face and pigtails.

"I'm sorry Uncle Stun!" she apologized immediately, her voice as adorable as her face. She immediately ran to grab up a broom and dustpan, both of which she held very awkwardly in her small hands, as she attempted to clean up the mess. "I—I was just going to make breakfast for everyone. I—"

"It's all right Ursula," Stun assured the little girl with a short chuckle. "That was very thoughtful of you dear, but I believe that you should leave breakfast to me, Jonathan, or Martinique." He stooped down to gently pry the cleaning tools from Ursula's tiny hands and ruffle her hair. "All right then?"

"All right," the girl said, easing up as she saw no traces of rage in Stephan's face. It was then that she looked past her guardian and to the lady standing a few feet behind him watching with keen eyes and a bemused smile. She edged towards Stun and tugging on his shirtsleeve, asked softly, "Who's that, Uncle?"

"This is Jenny, Ursula," he told the child. "She's a friend of mine."

"A very old friend," Jenny added with a smile, meeting Ursula's gaze warmly but not overbearingly. The girl edged towards her just a little, eyes wide as she looked Jenny over further. The bat zoanthrope let her get a little closer before she knelt and held out her hand. "Hi, I'm Jennifer Burtory, but you can call me Jenny."

Ursula smiled and, with a very adult flair, put her hand within Jenny's and shook it. "Ursula, you can call me Ursula."

Jenny's smile became wider. "Thank you, and how old are you Ursula?" she asked, turning on the charisma all her clients knew her for. "No don't tell me! Let me guess…eighteen?"

"No!" Ursula giggled, putting her hands over her mouth as her cheeks glowed a shade of rose.

"Oh, really?" Jenny asked with such feigned surprise that it almost shattered Stun's composure to bring him to his knees laughing. "Interesting…I'm hardly ever wrong you know. Well, let me try one more time…" Jenny held her chin, putting on a mask of intense concentration as Ursula continued to giggle and Stun continued to watch with lidded humor. Finally, Jenny exclaimed, "Twenty—five!"

"No!" Ursula giggled again. "Silly, I'm only eight!"

"Only eight?" Jenny exclaimed. "That's impossible! A pretty little thing like you? Only eight? I don't believe you!"

"It's true!" Ursula insisted. She glanced to the big blue zoanthrope standing behind her. "Tell her, Uncle Stun! Tell her how old I am! Tell her!"

"She actually is only eight, Jenny," Stun said, playing along with the game his friend had started.

Jenny's eyebrows went up and she cocked her head to the side. "Well, I guess maybe you are only eight, after all, your Uncle Stun wouldn't fib to me."

"Never," Stun quipped from the background.

"Why are you here?" Ursula asked Jenny. "Just to see Uncle? Or are you going to live here like me and my brothers and sisters?"

"Actually Jenny came here to visit you, Ursula," Stun told her, glancing at Jenny and signaling her to play along with him. "You see, Jenny is a very smart lady and lots of people ask her her opinions on things."

"What kinds of things?" Ursula questioned.

"Oh all sorts of things," he said. "But especially art. And I told Jenny that one of my kids was a very talented artist, she insisted on coming to see for herself."

"You mean!" Ursula almost squealed.

"Yes, Ursula, Jenny came to see the pictures you've been drawing, the ones in the big booklet," Stun said. He grinned as the little girl began jumping up and down and clapping her hands with glee. It took him a moment to settle her down.

"Really?" Ursula asked Jenny, eyes big and hopeful. "You came just to see my pictures!"

"I sure did," Jenny told the girl, hoping Stun would fill her in on what was going on sometime very soon.

"Why don't you go get them for her to see, heh?" Stun asked giving her a little push between her shoulder blades.

"Yes, Sir!" Ursula said, bolting immediately for the door Stun however, had and afterthought and reached out to grasp her by the collar of her pajamas. "And be very quiet," he added. "It's not even sun up, there's no need for the others to be up too early."

"Okay," Ursula whispered with an obedient nod. Stun gave the girl a smile along with a pat on the head before releasing her to quietly exit the room. Jenny waited for the door to close and Ursula's footsteps to fade down the hall before she looked at Stun with questioningly sharp green eyes.

"Pray tell, just exactly is this all about, old friend?" she asked, or commanded, it could have been considered the same thing, the way her eyes were boring into his face. "Did you really bring me here to look at your charge's pictures or is something else belaying this whole thing."

"Both," Stun answered, voice carrying an eerie undertone that would have given Jenny chills had she not complete control of her nerves.

"What does that mean?" she inquired, pupils and irises still locked and edgily on the blue zoanthrope's face.

"I let you see the drawings first," he told her, his tone still somewhat mysterious. "Then…then we'll talk. All right. Just do me a favor will you please, Jenny?"

"Depends," Jenny replied, one brow raised.

"Please, school any reactions you have in front of the girl," he asked, maybe even pleaded. "Because I'll tell you now, you'll probably not like what you see."

The curvaceous zoanthrope's eyes narrowed on her friends face, something that made Stun all the more wary than he already was. She opened her mouth to make a sharp, and probably nasty, query, when Ursula came trotting through the door once again, holding up a set of very and well-drawn, almost lifelike, pictures. Jenny's mouth went dry as she saw the first one, a colored pencil sketch of two people, but she managed to keep her face very calm.

She recognized both people, a man and a younger woman, though it took a little longer with the man. The woman had a fading tan, blonde hair, and brilliant sky blue eyes that flamed with hatred, as the man, a mountain of flesh with a missing left hand, grabbed her from behind and pressed a gun to her temple.

"Here," Ursula was saying though Jenny's ears felt somewhat detached, as the girl held out the pictures. "I call them my dream drawings 'cuz I see them in my dreams and then I draw them."

"Th—thank you, dear," Jenny's said voice only wavering for a moment as she accepted the drawings with numb hands. "I'll just have a look see." Though her outside was very serene, friendly even, Jenny's insides trembled with a combination of shock and fear from seeing her daughter in the clutches of one of her father's worst enemies; Yuri Petrov Bremen.

**Interlude**

Shenlong made his way quietly, almost stealthily, down a corridor in a large mansion that he his two cohorts had chosen for their base of operations during this whole trying era. It was warm and hot, like any night on a tropical isle so close to the Equator, but tonight a light breeze played about, cooling the muggy night to a degree as it simultaneously combed back his short black hair. As he walked he let his fingertips drag lazily across the nearest wall, red eyes gazing through the big pane-less windows that looked out on the beach and starry sky. This was possibly the most beautiful place in the world, or at least that's what he knew most normal people would think, of course, Shenlong wasn't all that normal so it did not come as a surprise to anyone when he remained indifferent towards the place. He just couldn't get worked up over a piece of land and some water, it was impossible for him. For awhile, though he wouldn't admit it, however, the clone had found some beauty in this place.

He frowned as memories, long auburn hair and smiling violet eyes flashed across his minds eye. Those times were gone. Besides, living for the here and now suited him far better in any case.

_So then why do you keep coming back here_? The question popped into his mind, like an evil little imp, determined to cause him any and all discomfort. The worst part was hat he had no answer for himself, or if he did he would not say it even in his head.

He neared the end of the corridor and a room that's ebony inlaid door had been left ajar for quite some time now. Long enough at least, for a thin gauzy dust to have spread over everything inside. He looked the room over, it wasn't a big space but it wasn't small either, and it did have one of the better views in the mansion, one big enough to see most of the island's western side. The furnishings within, were simple enough, a large four poster bed with once very clean, white, sheets; an armoire against the wall opposite the bed, a trunk at the its end, and an overstuffed easy chair next to a lamp that hadn't been used in ages along with large book stand. The red-eyed zoanthrope remembered a time in which he had seen this place in a totally different light, when it hadn't been so dusty, when it hadn't been empty, when it had actually been a living space and not just some old room tucked away in the corner of the mansion.

Beneath the cold layer of moonlight, Shenlong could see someone moving about doing day to day things, living, living right there. The form, black haired and lithe, was mostly found staring out the big windows, longingly gazing at the villagers in their little town below. Always looking, always needing to see what he was never sure of. Shenlong had tried to help, had tried everything to help ease the pain lingering behind his eyes, but it had never worked, nothing worked with him. Not until the day he had seen…

He thought back angrily to the day when Busuzima and Xion had said that the boy needed to learn what he'd been brought into the world for, what _she_ had given _her_ life to accomplish. That was part of what had made him run, and in all honesty Shenlong couldn't blame him. Shenlong couldn't even blame the boy when he'd attacked him, tried to wrest the life from his body, after all, how could he cold it against someone for doing what he himself had done to _his_ creator? No, he could never blame the boy, but Xion and Busuzima could, and they did. And the two of them were rewarded by constantly hunting a prey that would never be found or forced. It was his gift after all, as it had been _hers; _Shenlong had smiled to himself when the Unborn and the chameleon had found their precious "charge" disappeared in the night. He smiled at their angst even then, even as embroiled as he was in their plan, holding his willing and intricate piece.

No one would ever know just how much Long's clone hated himself at times for joining forces with those two fiends. Still he had to do what he had to do, he'd made promises and Shenlong would die to keep the particular ones he had made involving the scum. Even if it meant…

Again he could see the dark haired and slim form of the young one moving listlessly about the room, turning to grace him, and only him, with a smile. Trust echoed in his innocent eyes, trust and some form of adoration, like for a friend, maybe even a parent…

But then _she_ returned to his mind. Violet eyes flashing and snapping with determination, a soft white body, strength and love that flowed into two supple arms. He remembered more of this than anything else, more than he remembered the boy, and he knew that as much as he despised it, he would have to pull the other pieces back, unwilling as they were.

Shenlong was so engrossed in his memories that he didn't even notice the figure slinking behind him until it's head popped up near his shoulder.

"Having fun?" Hans purred in his ultra feminine voice as he slithered up next to the tiger zoanthrope.

Shenlong, taken completely off guard, let out a roar and made a swipe for the blonde transvestite, a blow that might have taken his head off. Or it least it would have severed his spinal column quite neatly, but seeing as Hans ducked and scrambled away within the blink of an eye, it didn't matter.

"My, my," the German clucked, as Shenlong fought off the urge to transform and rip him to pieces. "Testy, testy, aren't we?"

"Go the hell away, you scum-sucking piece of Euro-trash," Shenlong growled, eyes glowing a dangerously bright cerise. His fingers twitched, still shaped into taut claws, legs trembling with the urge to leap and slash.

"Why don't you go and try to find him?" Hans continued to taunt, slinking with ease by the wall, as ready to dodge, as Shenlong was ready to attack and maim. "Poor little Starling can't be that hard to find. Or are you still just letting him be, Shenlong?"

"If I were you, I'd shut the fuck up and walk away right now, bastard," Shenlong warned him. Because you're making me very angry and quite frankly I'm in no mood to take shit off Busuzima's whore."

"Ooh! I'm so scared!" Hans chuckled. The laughter was his mistake, and as he took a split second to revel in his barb, Shenlong took a leap and rammed his fist into the side of the fox zoanthrope's face, knocking him back and into a wall. Shenlong smiled as he heard ribs crack, though he was disappointed that the initial punch had rendered Hans unconscious and therefore unable to enjoy the pain as he did. The gray tiger stood looking down at the limp figure for a few seconds, drinking in the awkward angle of his chest, before grasping him by the blonde ponytail to drag him down the hall. Every chance he got Shenlong to do it, he took to cause Busuzima any and all frustration, knowing full well that if he wanted their plans to reach the finale stages, he could not retaliate. And a broken up Hans was sure to be the best reaction gotten so far.

**Interlude**

"Just wait for me a little longer, _chaton_," Sy pleaded as he watched Shina's darkened condo in the wee hours of the morning. It was taking everything inside of him to stay where he was, to keep away from her just for the short time he knew he had to. He wanted their first moments together to be more meaningful than the hormonally driven one-night stand it might have become if he had went along with her earlier that evening. He wanted much more than that, he _needed_ much more than that, and the only way he could achieve his goal was to make her wait on him. Even though he chaffed at the bit, wanting her so bad that he'd bitten the inside of his mouth to wash out her taste. He was going to hold to his intentions. Sying was not a man of weak will, the scars on his back and the scars in his mind were a pulsing testimony to that fact.

He shifted against the chimney he crouched by, despite the chill in the early spring air; he didn't feel cold at all. The passion and need for the woman he so intently gazed on through her open bedroom window, kept Sy warm enough. He snuggled closer to the bricks, their rough surface and cold solidity a strange comfort to his weak knees and ravenous mind. He rested his black and violet head against the stone, continuing to stare at her slumbering form with slavish adoration through lowered lids. He looked to be dozing almost as he curled there, but napping was the last thing he could do right then.

He waited until the sun rose, multifaceted in the purple and pink sky, before leaping to the ground and sprinting a few blocks to away to his awaiting car. Sying would go home, he would eat, and then he would throw himself very willingly into his blankets so that he could dream of his leopardess. And then…when the moon rose…He smiled.


	8. Warning Signals

Yugo stared down at Alice, watching intently as she breathed in her sleep. He smiled when she murmured something like "knock it off", wondering if she was dreaming about Uriko or about him. By the way she sighed and then smiled a little before rolling onto her side, he was pretty sure it was him. The young wolf chuckled inwardly as he propped himself up onto an elbow, continuing watching her dream away.  
The world was perfect at that moment for Yugo, peaceful and still, the only sound was that of Alice's peaceful breathing gracing the air. Early morning light from the eastern facing window in his bedroom danced through across the rumpled sheets, highlighting the female zoanthrope's ivory skin that peeped out over the china blue fabric. The sunbeams kept themselves away from her face however; it was as if they knew that these series of moments were too precious to disturb and purposely kept from her eyes. Tentatively Yugo reached over and pushed back his lover's loose hair, taking in all the clean lines of her pretty face, thinking back on the first time that they had met. Another chuckle escaped him.

Looking back at how they both had been it was no real surprise that his first feelings towards Alice were sympathy and then annoyance immediately afterward. Sympathy because he of the situation Tylon had put all of their group in, and annoyance because Alice's overbearing perkiness just did that to most people back then, hell it often got to people now. He hadn't really gotten used to her for awhile, finding her altogether cheerful and bossy attitude too much for him at times, especially when she insisted that he needed someone to look out for him. Of course, later on, he would understand she was only being honest, with the temper he had. Despite that, it wasn't until five years after the Tylon incident, when she had followed him during the ZLF affair, and nursed him, that Yugo realized how endearing a woman like Alice could be.

She wasn't the brightest penny in the fountain, common-sense wise in any case, but then friends had told Yugo on more than one occasion that that description fit him at certain times, he didn't deny it. Little by little she had grown closer to his heart until finally one day, he'd realized with a bit of a jolt, that he was in love with her. It had taken awhile for him to see, but very slowly Alice's better qualities had become quite prevalent to him, Yugo finding the good in her always outweighed the little quirks. Alice was beautiful, that was obvious to anyone who would look her way, but she was so much more; she was considerate, honest, selfless, encouraging, and compassionate to no ends. By the time he'd seen that part, not too shortly after she had helped mend his rather broken and bruised form, Yugo hadn't given a damn about the curves on her body or the shapes of her face. It was probably the deepest moment of his existence when he had found out that he loved Alice, and Alice, to Yugo, was the soul lying beneath the flawless complexion, nothing else mattered.

Of course the body helps, he thought to himself, smile deepening as he remembered the night before in vivid detail. There was no other feeling that could compare with the one that rushed through Yugo when he held Alice in his arms. There was nothing lurid about their sex-life, they didn't really have sex, he couldn't think of it that way, he and Alice made love. They didn't "fool around", they didn't "screw", and they certainly didn't just "fuck". They were in love and they made love, it was a simple as that. They weren't innocent or anything, they had their moments of teenage frenzy, but Alice was different to him than any other girlfriend Yugo'd had, it was…clean, sweet, maybe even pure. He wasn't all that fond of the description but for lack of better and more articulate words that was what Yugo felt they had together, it was almost like being with Alice made him a better man. And he liked that idea; of course that made him wonder why he hadn't gotten the courage to take things to the next level with her.

Looking away from Alice's peaceful face Yugo glanced over his shoulder at the bedside table, at the drawer on it. More specifically he looked with his minds eye into the drawer at what it held. There had been a little black box sitting in that drawer since six months after their first date. He hadn't gotten it with the intention of handing it over immediately; he would wait, he told himself, until things were more solid, more stable. Yugo had promised himself that as soon as he had a grip on things around him, he was going to go the whole nine yards, candlelight, roses, one knee, everything. The trouble with that promise, however, was that Yugo had never really gotten a grip on things around him, there was always just too much to take care of.

First and foremost he had Kenji. Yugo's little brother was more responsible than he had ever been at his age, he was calmer and more thoughtful than Yugo had been at any age, but he was still young, and he still had issues… Not that he necessarily knew all of what those issues were but still, he knew they were there, and Kenji came first, always he was first, and until Yugo could be absolutely positively sure about Kenji and his hidden demons, Yugo's life remained at a standstill. Plus there was the added weight and tensions at the WOC that rested on the young wolf. Change was in the air, the entire zoanthrope nation knew it, and that meant, as a leader in such a place as the WOC, Yugo was going to have people looking to him constantly. And that was more than just a little frightening and stressful.

Yugo couldn't blame his hesitations all on Kenji and WOC responsibilities, he wasn't going to lie to himself. Deep down Yugo still had cold feet and a youthful unwillingness to settle down. He wasn't ready to be what that little black box implied, it's contract carrying more weight than both the problems of his brother and his job combined, and Yugo could not handle that right then. Or so he was sure of until he'd look down and see Alice's and her smile, then the wolf zoanthrope would question his anxiety, wondering if maybe just maybe, his fears were unfounded…

Alice stirred suddenly, shifting from one side to the other, so that her back faced him and broke Yugo's unusually absorbed train of thought. He laughed softly to himself again as she mumbled something that sounded an awful lot like "Damn combat boots" while frowning slightly. Yugo felt a little bit sorry for dream-Shina as she must have been getting an earful from his girlfriend about her so called poor taste in clothing.

"Oh, Ally, just let it go," he whispered, barely able to hear himself as he smoothed the hair back off the nap of her neck. "You'll get Mt. Everest to shrink before you get Shina to throw those things away." And Yugo moved closer to put his arm about Alice's torso, pulling her gently against him as he settled back down to close his eyes.

Almost instantly, he felt a smaller hand slide into his own, pressing it into Alice's abdomen. Yugo looked over, expecting to see his girlfriend's shining red-purple eyes open wide from being woken. His expectations didn't pan out as her eyes were still shut tight, though she was smiling again in her sleep, Yugo also noticed that the back of her head was resting closer in the crook of his neck than it had been previously. Yugo grinned and kissed her shoulder, more than just a little touched by this subconscious display of affection coming from his beloved.

"Love you too, babe," he whispered pecking the back of her neck a final time before closing his eyes once more.

Interlude

Long looked over the fishpond in his garden as the early morning light played across its surface, his brow wrinkled in thought. He took a deep breath, letting the surface of the pool reflect in his mind, clearing the thoughts milling about, as he always did during meditation. A calming wave, cool and soft, like the rays of premature spring sunlight, ran through his body, silencing any and all uneasy nerves. Letting the breath out slowly the tiger zoanthrope opened his eyes; he was ready.

Soundlessly, Long leapt up from the full lotus position, through the air, and onto one of the taller rocks in his "Zen" garden, landing like just as gracefully as a cat should, in a tense half crouch. He left the crouch in another leap, lightening fast spinning off into an airborne kick. On his second landing he vaulted in a backward somersault followed by a series of handsprings that ended in a direct kick to the sandbag he had hanging between two trees. A series of ever quickening jabs, palm strikes, and kicks followed that first blow, sending the heavy bag into an almost rapid sway. Long did not bother with the punching bag for a very extensive amount of time, however, and returned to the rocks, spinning, jumping, and flipping from stone to stone like an acrobat. He almost moved quicker than the normal human eye could catch as he somersaulted about in his limbering routine. The part about Long's movements that would probably blow the minds of most was that even as fluid, flawless, and controlled as they looked, he was barely even thinking about what he was doing as he flew it.

As all true masters of the Kempo style Long's mind entered a meditation state as he fought or practiced, therefore all of his movements weren't a conscious act. It was like he was out of his body with his mind telling his muscles how to move and where to place the blows. None of his friends knew it but this higher state of mind was how he had gotten through his job at Tylon, he hadn't actually known what he was doing. Well, Long knew, but it was like watching a movie in his mind's eye, like wasn't really there, just witnessing the inevitable outcome. Something else his friends didn't know was that there were times that he just couldn't stand this part of him, the killing machine, to the point he'd once stood an entire night in his bathroom with a loaded gun on the countertop. As far as he was concerned, no one needed to know either, especially the young girl bounding into his garden at that exact moment.

"Master Long, I'm here!" Uriko exclaimed rushing over to the gong and striking it as he had instructed her to whenever coming in on him while in practice. Long's mind returned to normal and he landed gracefully out of a flip on his feet, hands behind his back as he at Uriko over the rim of his glasses.  
"Good morning, Master!" Uriko said brightly, bowing before him right before slamming into his lower half as she wrapped her arms about his waist.

Long, slightly winded stumbled back a foot or so, a wry half-smile on his face as he patted the girl's back.  
"Good morning to you too, Uriko," he said prying her off and pushing her back an arm's length. "How was your evening at the movies, with Kenji?"

The girl shrugged her shoulders. "It was pretty cool," she told him, looking down to the ground instead of into his eyes. Long frowned, Uriko had something on her mind, he knew, and considering how Uriko bushed everything off, it must have been a serious thing. He started to ask about this but before he even opened his mouth, the teenager had turned her grinning face back up towards his, and announced, "My mom's waiting out in a Taxi, she wants to talk to you!"

Long raised slim black eyebrow. "About what?"

Uriko simply shrugged, she just grasped his hand and started pulling back toward the house and entrance onto the street. "She didn't say to me, Master, she just said she wanted to talk to you."  
Long frowned again, walking along with Uriko as she pulled him. Just as the girl said, her mother was waiting next to a rather suitcase-laden taxicab as it sat out on the street corner.

"Hello, Long," Mitsuko greeted him cheerfully in her manly voice, waving with her rather large hand. Long remembered the first time he had met Mitsuko, he had been very sure she was a man until they'd finally rescued Uriko and the child had called her "Mommy". Still, he liked her very much; she was a good mother and a very warmhearted person, even if she did have more testosterone in her system than he did.  
"Hello, Mitsuko," he greeted her with a bow. He eyed the bags on the taxicab. "You're going on a trip?"  
"Yep, sure am," the big woman said, her smile and perky attitude showing just where her daughter got it from. "The Japanese branch of Nonomura Groceries has been having some trouble with anti-zoanthrope protesters. I figured I'd show up and give them something to protest." She chuckled and winked, setting her hands on her hips the way all assertive women did when they meant business. "That's kinda why I'm here. I know it's short notice and all but do you think you could watch Riko for me while I'm gone? I'd ask Alice but she and Yugo are still in the process of moving their things into their new apartment and I'd rather not dump Evil Kinievl here on them while they're so busy."

Long nodded at once. "Of course, Uriko is welcome at my home at all times," he smiled down at the girl, who beamed in return. "Plus it will give us extra time to work on her meditation exercises," he added almost wickedly, smiling as the young half-beast groaned and her mother chuckled again.

"Thank you very much, Long, I really appreciate this," Mitsuko said reaching out to grip his hand and shake it firmly. "I'll be back in four days, or at least I should be, never know how these damn things'll end up." The muscular lady reached into the confines of her purse and pulled out a cell phone, or at least what looked like one. "This is my two-way," she told Long handing it out towards him. Upon the confused look on Long's handsome face she thought to say more. "It's one of two connected phones, Long. I've got the other one. See you just…never mind if you need it Riko will help you use it right, Riko?"

"Right," the girl piped in.

Mitsuko nodded before addressing the tiger zoanthrope once more, "The important thing is that with it you can always reach me, no matter where I am or where you are, All right?"

He nodded and accepted the little black phone, making a mental note to get Shina or Yugo to explain it to him as soon as possible. He loved Uriko like a daughter but he would rather not take her advice on anything electronic.   
"Now, she's off of school for the next two weeks so there's no need to worry about that kind of transport," Mitsuko continued explain as he tucked the two-way into one of his pockets. "And as long as you don't object Kenji'll be around enough to get her out of your hair most of the day. Her curfew is eleven o'clock every night unless she asks, and it's entirely up to your judgment whether she can or not, I trust you with that." Mitsuko gave him a small smile, which Long returned. "I don't think there's much more you need to know, so I do believe that's my cue to get the hell to the airport."

"By, Mom!" Uriko said running up to hug her mother, who completely enveloped the teenager in her thick arms.  
"Behave yourself, all right, sweetie?" Mitsuko told her daughter with a kiss on the forehead. "You listen to Long or he's gonna take care of you and then I'll lay you out, you hear me?"

"Loud and clear, Mom," Uriko giggled pecking her mother's cheek before she was released.   
"Good, now—oh here!" Mitsuko exclaimed pulling her wallet out. She shuffled the bills around and handed a two-twenties over to her daughter. "Pay Shina back for the movies last night and use the rest wisely. Okay?"

"Can do."

"Oky-doke, I think that's everything," Mitsuko said. She reached out to shake Long's hand one final time. "Thank you, again, Long. I really, really, appreciate this."

"Anytime, Mitsuko," Long assured her with a smile.

Mitsuko smiled and waved a hand at her offspring. "Get your bag, sweetie, I've gotta get going if I want to say good-bye to your sister before I leave."

Uriko nodded obediently and heeding her mother's command grabbed a blue duffel bag out of the cab before Mitsuko slipped inside.

"Bye, Uriko! Bye, Long!" Mitsuko called, as she closed the cab door and it started to roll down the street. She waved out the window.

"By Mom!" Uriko called jumping up and down to wave, while Long, rolling his eyes at his students zeal, simply held his hand up in the direction of the fading yellow taxi. They remained on the sidewalk until the cab had disappeared completely.

"I thought you said you didn't know what your mother wanted, Uriko?" Long questioned the girl with a sidelong glance when her mother's taxi had gone.

"I didn't," Uriko said with an honest shrug as she looked up into her Master's eyes. "She just told me to pack and we were going to swing by your house on the way to the airport. She never told me I was going to be staying with you."

Long laughed softly at his pupil's naiveté, reaching down to fondly ruffle her hair short brown hair. "Come one, Uriko, lets go in. Have you had breakfast yet?"

Uriko looked at him with raised eyebrows. "It depends…what are you eating, Master?" she questioned, ready to run down the street if the words "rice cake" came out of his mouth.

The tiger chuckled at his pupil as they entered his home. "I believe we can splurge a bit today on breakfast," he said, pretending to relent. "What do you say we celebrate your stay with a bowl of blackberries and cream?"

"I'd say I'm not going to run down the street like mad," Uriko giggled, following him into the kitchen. Since Uriko had been at Long's house so often she knew where almost everything in his house was and immediately set to helping her teacher prepare their meal, setting out bowls, food, and brewing water for tea. Their rather simple fare didn't take very much time to prepare, maybe ten minutes at the most, so it was no time before Long and his student were sitting cross-legged in his dining room, full bowls before them. Long allowed the girl to eat in comfortable silence for a few moments before he decided to further pursue their earlier conversation.

"So how is Kenji, Uriko?" Long asked, tactfully averting his eyes down at into the smoky green-brown of his chai. "I haven't seen him in several weeks. The last I heard he was spending much of his time at a skateboarding park, is he still doing that?"

Uriko, once again, did not look up to meet his eyes, confirming Long's suspicions of what exactly was eating at her mind. "Yeah," she mumbled before piling a great spoonful of white and indigo mush into her mouth, doubtlessly to try and avoid the conversation she feared he was getting into. So of course Long hounded it further.

"Uriko, you know, if you ever need to discuss anything, I'm here, don't you?" he prompted, taking a lengthy sip of his tea, eyeing her as he did.

"Yes, Master," she said quietly, looking down into her bowl with less enthusiasm than he had seen in quite some time.

"Well, then, are you going to stop making me beat around the bush and tell me what's bothering you?" he asked, knowing that questioning her straight out was the best thing that he could do. "Mind, you don't have to say anything if you don't want to." He offered the girl a kind smile. "I just worry about you, you know."  
Uriko returned the smile, giving her mentor some relief—which quickly faded when she started frowning again.

"Kenji' being obsessive about something really dumb," she finally told him after a short, thoughtful silence. "And well…I don't know how to help him with it."

Long folded his hands on the tabletop, focusing completely on the young girl. "Well what exactly is he so bothered about, Uriko?" he questioned. "Does it have anything to do with the WOC or Yugo?"  
"No, nothing like that," Uriko said biting on her lower lip as she rubbed the handle of her spoon idly. She let out a heavy sigh. "He—he's worried about what he used to be…You know like you were…"

Long raised an eyebrow in surprise, he certainly hadn't expected to hear that.

Despite how they had common pasts, Long and Kenji hadn't developed very much of a camaraderie. Long suspected that it was because of was because of his fatherly affection for Uriko and the fact that Kenji and she had been very good friends for quite some time now and well…he knew how teenagers could get. Or at least he knew how most teenagers could get; he himself had never went through much of a hormonally driven state, he was a thirty-something year old virgin after all, but he was not blind. Shina and Yugo thought he didn't know much in that entire department because of that little fact, but his best friends didn't give his knowledge from traveling and people-watching much credit. Alice and Yugo had been good friends and schoolmates before they'd become lovers, Mitsuko and her late husband Thai; it ran in the women of that family and Kenji and Uriko were at just about the right age to start. And Long did not by any means think that his student was ready to fall into such a cementing relationship. Again, though, he thought of himself as a father figure to the girl and knew he was more than just a little overprotective of her at times and did his best to back away when he realized how he was acting.

"You mean he's uncomfortable about his past as Bakaryu?" Long questioned. "He's felt guilt for this in the past before, though, hasn't he?"

"Yeah…but this time it's different," Uriko told him. "I—it's like he's holding himself back on things, like he's afraid that something will just set him off and he won't be who we know anymore. He said some really odd things about not becoming too competitive at the skate-park or driven so he would never loose control. It doesn't make a lot of sense to me." She met Long's eyes then; a frown deeply set into her young face that troubled her master very much. Uriko was too carefree of a soul to frown like that. "I'm just worried that he's worried I guess…I tried to reassure him last night and it seemed to be working but…" She grinned a little. "I can never tell with Kenji, you know? He's not all that open, I feel like I need a dictionary to get him sometimes."

Long smiled at the analogy, he knew people who acted like this as well, specifically a blonde, leopard, zoanthrope who never made anything an easy for anyone around her. Of course that's why he and Yugo cared for Shina's company so much, she was about one of the most complicated human beings he had come across in his entire life. But her complications could be considered good when she was put in the same room with her two best friends. Shina was convoluted, Yugo was reckless, and Long had enough stuffy reservations to drive the world crazy, but when the three of them got together, they balanced one another out. And that, he suspected, was exactly the reason Kenji and Uriko had become so close, Uriko's immaturity was countered by Kenji's seriousness, he cooled her down while she loosened him up.

"Yes, I think I've a very good idea of what you mean, Uriko," Long said, smiling more or less to himself as he picked up his tea, mind flashing with an image of Shina and Yugo.

"Do you think I'm worrying over nothing then, Master?" she asked, propping her face in her hands as she looked at him with her innocent cow brown eyes.

"Uriko…I honestly don't know," Long told her honestly. "But—" he added when her face started to fall. "But even if he's is going to be just fine, you would worry anyway, wouldn't you?" He smiled and reached over to pass a hand through her short locks. "You wouldn't be a good friend if you didn't, Uriko, it's the trademark of someone who honestly cares. If it makes you fell better, though, I believe that Kenji will be fine. He has too many people around him that care for any other outcome."

Warmed by the comment Uriko's lips slowly turned up in a smile, and she jumped up to throw her arms about her teacher.

"Thank you, Master," she said, voice muffled by the fabric of his shirt. "I feel a lot better."  
The older zoanthrope went rigid from the awkwardness of being hugged so tightly, but it didn't last more than a few seconds as Long put his arm about her shoulders and returned the embrace. "I'm very glad I could help, Uriko. It puts my mind at ease knowing yours is as well."

"Um...thanks…I think," she giggled as he released her and she sank back down into her chair.   
They continued to beam at one another for a few moments in comfortable silence before Long asked, "So are you ready to go and begin your meditation, Uriko?" Uriko's only reply was a groan as she feigned to faint in her seat. Her teacher only laughed good-naturedly at Uriko's behavior and took another drink of his tea, swilling the last few drops down. As big of a stickler he was for dedication in training, Long had to admit that he found her antics funny. Besides, he knew that she would move along without too much badgering if he mentioned that afterwards they could spar.

Interlude

Shina glared wrathfully into the stormy twilight from her western facing bedroom window, waiting for the boom to follow the lightening that had crashed not to far from her house, and questioning her sanity and mindset. She had to be bipolar or something along those lines. Yesterday morning she had been just fine (except for the incident at longs house), it had been stable. She'd even had something to look forward to for awhile, and then along came Jenny. Her shoulders trembled from even thinking that name, from thinking about anything that had to do with her in general.

The leopardess had never felt such a feeling before. It wasn't hate, as much as she could not stand the thought of Jenny or her father she did not hate them, she didn't even feel rage, not really. No, the feeling that those two had left her with was far worse than any of the above said emotions. The space beneath Shina's heart was filled with the worst kind of things that until three months ago she had never had to endure: emptiness and betrayal. The worst part, to her at least, was that a seasoned a warrior that she was, Shina hadn't even been remotely prepared for any of it. Shina could have taken it from anyone else, anyone, but not them, not the woman she disdained for trying to weasel into her family, and certainly not from Gado.

Gado, her adoptive father…_her real father_, or so now it seemed to be…she had never expected this from him, and that was what hurt her the most. He had promised that after all her troubles with losing him during the times of the ZLF and of the Tabula, that he would never keep any secrets from her again. He'd vowed on his honor that he would be honest with her no matter what happened, and since her father had said honor was life, she had trusted him. And that trust, that faith, even the bond between them, had been shattered when he and Jenny had taken her aside that fateful evening to spill themselves to her.

"Whoever said the truth would set you free was a fucking liar," she whispered thickly as a flash of lightening cracked all the closer to her condo and a hard rain began to fall. She turned away; not caring to close the windows to protect from the damp chill that would spread through the house. Walking out of the room she caught sight of herself in the mirror hanging near the door.

Shina passed a hand through her damp from the shower locks, frowning at her steadily paling features. Did she see a hint of green in her irises or was it just her imagination?

"No wonder he didn't want to stick around," she muttered under her breath, Sy's face flashing in her mind's eye before she ran out and down the stairs into her kitchen, another thing that had nagged the back of her mind all day. He must have seen the part of her that came from that damn batwhore, that would have made any sensible man run.

Once in her kitchen Shina set to making an icy version of a hazelnut-rum latte. She had just let off the blender and poured it into an awaiting glass when lightening crashes, thunder boomed, and her phone rang. The young woman jumped but didn't shriek and she didn't spill the pitcher. Instead she scowled at herself and the phone, swore, and picked up the receiver.

"Hola," she greeted whomever was on the other end before taking a swig of her drink.

"Shina?" Yugo's voice crackled through the other end.

"Hey, Yugo," she said taking a seat on top of her kitchen counter. "How's it hanging with you today, bro?"

"Loose and slightly to the left," he chuckled; Shina could picture the goofy smile on his face and rolled her eyes.

"And you? You played hooky from work today, may I inquire why?"

Shina sighed, pulling her knees up to her chest.

"I just wasn't in the mood to work today, man," she told him. "I've been…distracted I guess, and I knew I wouldn't be able to concentrate on anything for you so I just figured I'd keep outta your hair and stay home today."

"You're never in my hair, Shin, you know that," Yugo rebuked her dour attitude. "If anything it's a vice versa situation."

"You said it not me," she chuckled, taking another drink of her hazelnut-rum latte.

"Oh to hell with you too, bitch!" Yugo exclaimed with feigned indignance. "Here I was all worried about you and you insult me! Some friend you are!"

"Oh, Yugo, shut up!" she laughed. "We both know that Ally made you call, it's no secret, It's cool."

"She did not!" he protested. "She isn't even home right now, thank you very much! I called of my own will—completely! Though now I'm beginning to regret it, considering all you're gonna do is tell me how fake and crappy a friend I am!"

"Take it easy, mutt," Shina was almost giggling as she pushed hair back out of her eyes. "I'm just kidding. Thanks for calling too, I was afraid that if I listened to my own voice or the TV much longer I wouldn't make it through the night."

"How many bottles of beer did you take off the wall?" he joked.

"I got to sixty-two."

Then you forgot what came after, right?"

"No then I went and actually drank a couple. Jesus, Yugo, I'm not you, I finished high school, remember?"

"Hey, I finished high school!" Yugo snapped playfully. "I just didn't do that…well."

"Flunky," she teased.

"Whore," he teased back.

"Whipped."

"Cock biter."

"How'd you find out about that?"

That comment made them both start snickering rather hard and it was a few more moments before the conversation was continued.

"So, seriously," Yugo asked when their laughter had subsided and they could both breathe again. "How have you been today, Shina? Why'd you cut work?"

Shina bit the inside of her cheek, glad that her friend couldn't see the guilty look on her face. Of course she forgot that awkward silences were just as damning, and, despite the fact that he had the wit of a two-year-old, Yugo wasn't so absentminded that he could miss one.

"Shina, please answer me," he begged in a sincere and slightly worried voice that anyone ever heard coming from the wolf zoanthrope. "I'm worried about you. Me, Long, Ally, we're all worried about you and we want to help all we can so please, please don't start pushing us away."

The leopardess swallowed hard, both touched and frustrated with her friend. Shina knew that she was more than just a little lucky to have all these people caring about her, but regardless, she'd rather not burden them with her troubles. Not to mention she was to closed off inside to be able to share her most intimate worries with anyone, not even her best friends, Yugo and Long. Still…

"I—I'm okay, Yugo, really, she managed to breathe after a few tense moments. "Or at least I will be. I just you know, needed to chill and stuff today. I needed some time alone."

"But _why_ did you need to chill, Shina?" he pressed on. "What's going on with you lately? I don't see how in the fuck it's possible but you're getting harder and harder to understand anymore. Does it have to do with Gado and Jenny? What happened to your hand?"

Caught somewhere between aggravation and panic, Shina lost control of her temper right at that moment, and before she could stop herself, the words had already started pouring from her mouth.

"What the hell, Yugo!" she exclaimed, unable to hold the anger from her voice. "Nothing's wrong with me! I'm fine, I'm peachy, I'm great, so why don't you and the rest of the fucking world stop asking me? Jesus Christ I'm not a china doll, I'm not gonna break! Get the fuck off my case and stop asking me, all right?"

"Shina I'm just—"

"Worried, yeah,. I know!" she snarled. "So you and everybody else has been saying from the moment I showed up. But, you know what? I don't need you to worry about me so back the fuck off, ya god damn mutt!" And she clicked the off button before throwing the phone across the room. Shina immediately felt a combined surge of regret and of guilt. She hadn't meant to act that ay with Yugo, they were friends, he was one of her best, but right then, she just couldn't deal with his protectiveness and worrying. She didn't need sympathy and concern, what she needed was something that no one could give her: a new memory.

She gulped down the last of her latte, tossing the glass idly into the sink beside her when it was drained. Afterwards she pulled her knees up to her, chin, continuing to sit on the counter, eyes dull as she stared guiltily into the torn black of her jeans. All she wanted was to lie down and wake up as someone else, someone who was happy, someone who didn't flow with all the complex emotions she did at that moment. Most of all she wished she hadn't said what she'd just said to Yugo, not so much because she didn't like hurting someone who cared so much for her well being, because she didn't like it. For the most part Shina didn't want to have to apologize in the morning; she hated admitting that she had regrets.

She was debating whether or not to pick up the phone and call Yugo back, when the fine little hairs on the nap of her neck began to intuitively stand on end. Shina looked up, eyes narrowing in blue, catlike slits, searching the dark with her nocturnal gaze. Scanning by the staircase Shina saw a shadow move, shortly after a soft, almost inaudible, laugh pierced the silence that had been so constant in her house the majority of the day. Her upper lip curled in an inward snarl as her body contorted into a crouch, her back arching just as her feline counterpart's would. Someone was skulking about in her home, and lucky them; they'd caught her just in the right sort of mood. Shina continued to crouch and focused her mind, pinpointing the actions of her intruder.

Footsteps, almost unheard even by her keen ears were slipping up the staircase. The snarl on her lips went to her throat, albeit quietly, and the leopardess slipped down onto the floor with ease even Long would envy. From there, Shina slowly, carefully, made her way up the stairs, moving so carefully that she didn't make the slightest squeak or clang on the iron steps and rail. She paused at the final step, licking her lips and listening for further noise coming through the dark. Another soft laugh to the right and she knew he was waiting in her room.

Indignance rose in Shine's chest and she stood to her full height, deciding to confront the arrogant son-of-a-bitch who'd dared enter her most private chamber. She let out the snarl that had so been digging in her breast since the kitchen and strode into her bedroom, hand clenched into fists as she prepared to knock some sense into whomever waited so overconfidently on the other side. That snarl however faded just past her bared teeth when she saw whom her intruder was.

He leaned against the open window seat, watching her from beneath lowered lashes and sodden tendrils, hands behind his back. The whole of him was soaked, like he'd run through the rain to get there, and he wore no shirt. Shina watched in a combination of heated wonder and surprise as a drop of water rolled seductively down his abdomen, creating a trail over his six-pack and. She followed the little drop until it disappeared into the low rise of his cargo pants. A faint blush began to rise in her cheeks and she looked away while he chuckled again.

"I told you I'd see you again, _chaton_," Sy reminded her, the laughter in his voice and eyes smoldering with heat.

"How did you know where I live?" she inquired casually, more than demanded, something that surprised them both.

"I followed you," he said with a shrug, eying her carefully just in case the calm facade broke and she decided to charge.

"Why?" she questioned, despite the fact her instincts told her she should probably rip him apart on the spot. "Why follow me? I was perfectly willing to let you come with me that night at the club. Why follow me home around?" She reclinched her fists. "What are you planning on buddy, because I'm telling you now, if you thought that you could come here and take me you've been sadly mistaken." She bared her teeth where her fangs had started to shift and grow, showing the razor edged canines behind her soft lips. "I'm not like other girls, pal."

"I know," he said without bulking, almost shocking the leopardess. Any normal man would have fled at the sight of a five foot eleven woman with a GI Jane complex who'd just shown him vampiric eyeteeth. "That's precisely why I've been following you, _chaton_." He smiled slowly, a certain wildness behind it that altogether intrigued Shina and sent chills of wariness down her spinal column. "There's no one else in the world like you." And he stepped forward abruptly, as if to grab her.

Instinctively Shina drew back her fist, meaning to ram it into his sternum with enough force to crack a couple of his ribs. Her plans, however, were foiled as Sy caught her hand within his. Shina started in surprise, he was quick. She looked up angrily, already starting to curl the fingers on her other hand but as she did that she found herself released, Sy stepping back to open his arms wide and fully expose himself to her attack.

"Go ahead, _chaton_," he murmured, amethyst eyes glowing on her face. "Hit me. Make me hurt. If it comes from you then the pain will be sweet."

"You're crazy," she whispered before throwing her fist at him, once again however, Sy caught her off guard. Side stepping the blow he grasped her by the waist and forced her body to meet his. The female zoanthrope shivered as her warm skin found cool, wet, muscles against her abdomen. Sy's hand slipped to the small of her back while the other moved to the side of her face.

"_Je suis fou. Fou pour vous, le chaton_," he whispered as he started to cup her face. Shivers continued to radiate through Shina's body as his cold fingertips played against her hot cheek. He stared deeply into her eyes for several moments, violet shimmering warmly into blue. "But then it's the same for you, isn't it. You've been thinking about me all day, haven't you, _chaton_?"

"Don't flatter yourself," she snapped, though she did not push him away.

Sy chuckled as he moved his fingers to brush the bangs back out of her eyes. "Then why haven't you left the house today?" he inquired almost wickedly. "It wasn't because of me even a little?"

Shina stiffened. How did he know? How did he know that she hadn't been able to stop thinking of him the entire day? She opened her mouth to tell him off, but yet again Shina found that Sy was one step ahead of her.

That same delicious electricity she'd experienced the night before at the club, shot mercilessly through Shina as Sy covered her mouth with his. Her anger and resentment melted as his arms conformed warmly to her frame and she reveled in the hardness of his body pressed against hers. She felt herself go weak as his hands and hers slid into places that they didn't belong. They stumbled backward, Shina's legs buckling as they hit the bed and she tumbled backwards.

Even as her brain screamed out orders that this was going to lead her into a bad situation, Shina didn't stop herself, she did not push him away, all that Shina complied with was the heat that was rising from inside of her and the dominating urges she had in bed-play.

Interlude

After tucking in the last of his charges Stun reentered the kitchen to find Jenny still staring into her cup of now very cold coffee, without blinking, her face more pale and drawn than Stun had seen in a very, very, long time. She'd been like this for the entirety of the day, since Ursula had shown her her pictures, and it disturbed him to no end. Though he could hardly blame her for any other behavior, he himself had been feeling more than just a little bit strained since witnessing the girl's work.

"Still fretting over it all?" he asked gently as he sat down across from her at the table.

The former model looked up at him with large haunted eyes. "Is–" Jenny muttered through paper dry red lips as she tried to form the proper words. "Is–Are her drawings–are they–?"

"Often correct?" Stun finished for her. He looked down and way. "Ninety–nine point nine percent of the time yes."

Jenny swallowed hard. "Do–do you think that there's anything I can do–"

"Other than stand back and let the universe guide you, no," he answered. "The more you tamper, I'm, afraid, the faster these things will happen."

"But Stephan I can't _not_ do anything," she whispered, as tears began to leak from her flawless eyes. "I–I can't not try and protect her..._There has to be something dammit_!"

Stun reached over to put his hand over her wrist. "You can only watch her, Jenny. It's not like you can anticipate the when and the where, in any case."

"So I just set back?" she whispered in disbelief. "I--I just wait for these...events...to happen?"

"I don't see any other options, Jenny," Stun told her gently. He looked down at one of Ursula's renderings, and shuddered at the image of himself and the children running from a flaming building. "Trust me…if it's meant to happen you're not going to be able to hold it back. You can only anticipate and plan out your choices for when these key moments occur."

Jenny didn't say anything; she didn't so much as blink. All that she did was shift her eyes downward to the to the spread about pile of drawings, focusing on the one in which she was with Shina. The leopardess' skin was placed beneath her tan, her white tank top was soaked in crimson, her body appearing to be feeble as a small child's as she clung to a weeping Jenny for support, eyes starting to close. Studying the background so that she would see it for years to come, Jenny made she memorize every detail, and told herself that, when the time did come, she was going to be ready to make the ultimate choice if that's what it would take to save her daughter.

"Do me a favor, Steph?" Jenny's voice was more of an order than a request.

"Anything," he told her immediately, wishing that he had never brought this up to her in the first place.

"You plan on showing these to the others when the time is right, don't you?"

"Yes."

"Well, I think you should omit this one and not speak of it anymore to anyone," Jenny said, reaching down to take up the frightening picture. She folded it neatly before tucking it into her shirt and standing up. She held out her hand to Stun, who took it graciously. "Good-bye for now, old friend. I'll see myself out."

Stun nodded. "I'm sorry, Jenny, I wish—"

"Don't be, Stephan," she cut off gently, withdrawing her pal from his large blue digits. "I'm not." And she turned and exited the room, leaving her apprehensive and penitent friend behind.


	9. Closer and Closer

**Authors Notes**: I just want to thank all of my faithful readers (Hybrid Thing, _I love you_) and of course my darling editor, AL. I dedicate this to you both. IM at any time, guys, I owe you. To the newcomers I'd like to say welcome and you better review me unless you want your hamsters to end up in a microwave!

_Kenji fell onto the earth with bruising force, as cruel laughter echoed behind him. He spat out clumps of dirt as he fought to regain his breath and scramble up onto his feet. A salty tang mixed with the mud he'd accidentally taken into his mouth, telling him that, along with a sharp pain, he'd bitten deep into the inside of his cheek on the fall. The former assassin barely felt the pain of his forming bruises and bleeding palette, however; they were shadows in comparison to the urge he had to run and escape what was so quickly closing in on him. He had just pulled himself up onto his knees when another sharp ache exploded in his side, rolling him flat onto his back._

_The teenage zoanthrope let out a strangled cry as his pursuer, a shadowy likeness of his own face, grinned down at him. Bakuryu cackled again, reaching down to lift Kenji off the ground by the throat. He attempted to claw and kick his capture into forcing a release but all that Bakuryu did was grin and shake him mercilessly like a terrier would a rat._

"_Look," he commanded, his smile so wild and deranged that Kenji felt the bottom of his stomach drop out. Bakuryu waved his hand. "Look and see all the beauty that we've created."_

_Kenji refused at first but found himself unable to turn his darker side down when Bakuryu started to shake him again. As his eyes focused, though, Kenji wished desperately that he'd simply let the creature within his heart just rattle his brains out. It would have been far kinder._

_Yugo was dismembered in five or six pieces, he thought five or six because Kenji was unsure that the few pieces of sinew still connecting the one arm to his torso counted as severed. Long's upper half was close by, his legs and waist facing the opposite direction of his marred face. Shina had gotten off somewhat easier than her two best friends, as she'd only had her jugular punctured by a chance slice, her eyes still glistened with the feeble determination she'd shown in trying to continue her fight, even though the blood had long since poured from her body. Alice was near Yugo, or at least her head was, the big purple-red eyes on it open wide with the terror and pain of her last moments. She'd probably attempted to save Yugo and gotten herself cut apart by Bakuryu's claws for all her efforts. Kenji's stomach, already rolling at these particular bodies, went out of control as he spied the final corpse._

_Uriko laid to the side, her only wound a stab to the heart. Her eyes were large and moist, she'd been crying in her last few moments of life, but not for pain. His best friend's eyes bore the look she wore when she was worried for him, when she was trying to pull him back out of the dark. Kenji's stomach rebelled and it rebelled hard, sending him to his knees. Sweat and tears poured down his face as he dry heaved painfully onto the dirt. Trying to wipe his face off Kenji felt his face grow damper every time he put his hands to it. He screamed, actually screamed, when he saw his shaking palms. They were red, red as the dirt surrounding the bodies of his brother and friends._

"_No!" he shouted hysterically, pulling his body into the fetal position as he began to convulse. He shut his eyes, but the images would not leave him and howls of pain and betrayal from all he'd slain filled the air. "No! No! **No**! I didn't do it! I didn't do it! It wasn't me! It—it—wasn't—"_

"Kenji, Kenji, wake up!" Yugo's voice broke through his tormented sobs.

The teenager's eyes shot open and he found himself in his own bedroom, on the floor by his bed, blankets twisted about his vomit and sweat-drenched form. Yugo leaned over him, his muscular arms encircling the teenager from behind and trying to lift him up of the floor. The older Ohgami's face was contorted with pure worry as he fell to his knees, hugging Kenji tightly.

"What's wrong with him?" Alice's anxious voice penetrated the thick sobs and convulsions coming from the mole zoanthrope.

"He—he's having more nightmares, Ally," Yugo told her, his tones drenched with fear as he started to scoop Kenji up. "God, he's vomited all over, this time."

"Yugo, this is too much, we've gotta get him to the hospital!"

"No, no I don't think so..."

As Yugo started to pick him off the floor Kenji's began to squirm and wriggle as if he was unable to cope with coming in contact with his brother.

"Lemme go!" he choked out pushing himself out of Yugo's arms. He landed half crouched on the floor and rolled away. "Don't touch me! _Don't touch me_!" Kenji crawled to the corner of his room, pulling his knees to his chest and burying his face into them, body still shaking uncontrollably.

Yugo and Alice now plainly frightened, looked at one another. Biting his lower lip the wolf zoanthrope motioned quickly to his girlfriend, telling her to leave the room. Alice pursed her lips, large scared eyes asking if he was sure, he might need help after all. Yugo, touched by her kindness shook his head nonetheless. He needed to be alone with his little brother for a few moments, he told her without words. Try not to worry and he'd be along soon enough. The auburn haired beauty nodded reluctantly before exiting the room, leaving the brothers to their privacy.

Yugo waited a few moments before he ventured reaching to the trembling boy.

"Kenji, Kenji, please, talk to me, bro," Yugo begged softly, standing to hover over his little brother. "It's okay, it was just a—" The comforting words were cut short as Kenji's hand shot out, attempting to push Yugo back. The elder Ohgami, however, saw the blow coming a mile away and caught Kenji's arm by the wrist, pulling it behind up and behind the snarling teenager's back as he trapped him between his knees.

"Get the hell away from me!" Kenji snarled twisting and kicking to try and knock his brother off. His skin was crawling as vivid pictures of the wolf's rendered corpse flashed through his mind; bile rose in his gullet and ran into his mouth. "Get away while you can! Go!"

"_No, I won't_," Yugo told him, gritting his teeth as he fought to hold onto the younger zoanthrope. "Not until you're okay. I'm not leaving you alone, Kenji, now wake up!"

At once Kenji's struggling desisted, his body going limp. Yugo sighed and sank to the floor, releasing his brother's wrist and reconfirming his arms to encircle his shoulders, holding him instead of restraining. Slowly but steadily the younger Ohgami returned to consciousness.

"Yugo?" came the sleepy croak from Kenji. "Yugo, what's going on?"

Yugo let out a sigh of relief, hugging his little brother tightly. "Nothing, nothing, it's okay. You just had a nightmare, Kenji. That's all."

"Another one?" the boy asked. "I—I don't remember…did—did I say anything this time?"

"No," Yugo told him immediately. "You just started shaking and puking again."

Kenji, face utterly lost looked down, pulling away from his brother, grimacing at his filthy nightshirt and pajama bottoms.

"I should go clean up," he murmured without looking at Yugo again.

"Probably should," Yugo agreed, wiping saliva off of his own shirt as he started to stand.

Kenji moved for his bathroom door wordlessly and Yugo pulled himself up onto his feet. They were about to part ways when Kenji paused at the bathroom door and looked back to his big brother with wide haunted eyes.

"When's this gonna end, Yugo?" he asked, voice barely above a whisper. "When will the bad dreams stop?"

Yugo instinctively reached out to pass his hand through his little brother's dark hair. "I bet they'll be gone really soon," he assured him. "It's just a phase, Kenji. You're gonna be fine. I'll be here to make sure of it."

Kenji didn't make any sort of reply, but Yugo saw something like doubt and fear on his behalf flash through the boy's eyes before he disappeared into his bathroom. Yugo winced as the door closed, if he were a better brother, he thought, Kenji wouldn't have been scared. The wolf took a moment to compose himself before he followed Kenji's example and left, crossing the yet to be unpacked den into his and Alice's bedroom. She was waiting on the edge of their bed just as he knew she would be, her face tense and fretful as she stared up at him.

"Is—is he okay now?" Alice asked, face pale even for her.

Yugo nodded. "For tonight," he croaked, joining his girlfriend. "God only knows about tomorrow though." Yugo let out a heavy breath, putting his face in his hands. "Jesus, Ally, what am I gonna do? I don't know what's going on with him let alone how to help him!" And he shuddered, almost like he was crying.

Alice responded in the only way that she could, she put her arms about her boyfriend, laying her head on his shoulder and hugging him as hard as she could. They sat like that for a long time, neither of them speaking to admit to what they both already knew. Neither of them knew how to help the teenager who was crying beneath the shower head two rooms away, trying desperately to remember what in the hell had made him shake like an infant in the arms of his sibling.

**Interlude**

Shina's eyes fluttered open shortly after the sun had risen. She glanced at her alarm clock that hadn't been set the evening before. Eight twenty five in bright red glared back at her. The leopardess grimaced. She was going to be late, Yugo had asked her to come in early Tuesday morning. Of course as Shina found herself a little restricted in movement she could have given a damn less about her promises to her best friend.

She almost yelped when she found Sy's arms around her nude figure, his dark head resting on her shoulder as he held her from behind. The prior evening's events returned to her en mass, as well as a satisfied burning in her thighs. She had the feeling it was going to be very hard for her to sit with her legs closed for a few days or so. Shina also had the feeling that this was going to be one of the more complicated situations of her life, something she'd pretty much known since Sy had shown up the night beforehand.

Shina had been around and then some. She'd had countless sexual rendezvous and one night stands nothing that lasted more than one or two dates. That's just how she operated, being as closed up inside as she was. And during each of those little intrigues Shina had forced herself to adhere to one simple rule, to protect herself from the constant threat of mental intimacy: don't bring the guy home. And here she was, not only had she taken a perfect stranger into her bed, but a perfect stranger who seemed to be her stalker. To top that all of Shina found herself unable to come up with any fears or reservations to hold between herself and Sy. An eerie vibe of familiarity seemed to run between them. What surprised her most was that this didn't scare her, and it didn't make her want to rip him apart, she certainly did not embrace the idea but she also could not find it in her to push him out of her bed and beat him black and blue.

_Black and blue-**er**_, she corrected herself mentally, as her eyes fell upon a hickie just beneath Sy's earlobe that had been bleeding the night before. Shina licked the inside of her mouth, one hand slipping down to trace a sore bump on the inside of her thigh. There were several others like it on both their bodies; it seemed that she and Sy both had an odd fascination with combining pain and sex. His back had probably bleed from her clawing it the night before, just as hers had when Sy'd gotten a bit overzealous with trailing kisses down her spinal column.

_Yep, I'm fucked up_, she thought with a wry grin, turning herself about in his arms with expert practice; Sy didn't even miss a breath. The leopardess looked at her bed-partner, who was deep in dreamland, a soft, almost complacent smile on his face. _Not surprising considering we gave in about three hours ago_, she chuckled to herself. She took in the clean lines of his face. Sy was gorgeous, there was no denying that, and though Shina knew she wasn't exactly a hag, she didn't think she was pretty enough to attract Sy's type of good looking. There was something about his features that struck her funny as well, particularly his nose, she had seen that nose one someone else's face before, Shina just couldn't remember who.

Looking at the outside world the leopardess knew that if she was going to figure any of this out without anyone's input she needed to get up and be alone for a few. That and she had a phone call to make, her mind flickered guiltily to Yugo, as she hoped he wouldn't be too furious with her. Stealthily Shina wriggled from Sy's tight embrace, slipping a pillow between his arms as he started to contract them. The ploy seemed to satisfy him, as he continued to smile and lay his had against the pillow he had with her shoulder. For perhaps the first time in her life Shina thought of the word cute in description of something. That quickly faded however when she started to rise off the bed and found that the soreness in her hips nearly sent her back down.

Shina rubbed her thighs, blinking in surprise. She hadn't felt like this before, of course she'd never had a lover like Sy before. She looked back at his sleeping form and raised her eyebrows. The reasons to keep him around were amassing quickly. Suppressing the urge to groan as she pulled herself up, Shina stood and after taking a moment to breath and compose herself, grabbed up a tank top and a pair of black pajama pants she'd left lying on her bedroom floor. She dressed after she'd crossed the hall and went into the bathroom, heading downstairs and into the kitchen once she'd taken care of business.

From there Shina opened her just recently refilled fridge, pulling out the orange juice and a leftover slice of pizza from yesterday's lunch. She ate, contemplating the cordless and the naked man upstairs as she munched. Her thoughts were jumbled. She needed to talk to Yugo, and she needed to talk to him soon, they were too good of friends for her to want this lying over their heads any longer. Of course Shina's competence at apologies had to be taken into consideration, and she was fairly bad at them to say the least. Yugo's mood had to be thought over too, Shina was pretty sure he would be more hurt than angry with her but nothing was definite and until he'd cooled down completely, if he needed to in the first place, Shina wasn't going to bother with him. And even as she was thinking about Yugo, Sy and the night before played at the back of her mind, messing up her train of thought.

Shina wrinkled her nose up as she stuffed the last bite of pepperoni and cheese into her mouth. Had her life always been so easily complicated? It probably had been but she hadn't noticed until right then, maybe because the problems she faced anymore couldn't be solved with her fists or a gun.

"Maybe I should have listened to my guidance counselor and become an investment banker or some shit like that," she mused after gulping down a large mouthful of orange-juice to wash the pizza down. "I think I could handle that kind of stress way better than this emotional bullshit."

The female zoanthrope eyed the reciever and let out a sigh. She really hoped that Yugo, accept a really short "I'm sorry 'bout last night, man, can you put, Ally on the horn?" Not only did she not want to dwell on what she'd said any longer, Shina also felt like she could use a little female guidance on her intimacy issues for the first time in her entire life. She was just reaching to dial up the number to her friend's new apartment when the doorbell rang.

_That could be an omen_, she thought, retracting her hand quickly from the phone pad.

"Just a minute!" she called hoping that she wasn't loud enough to wake Sy if the doorbell hadn't already gotten to him. Shina swore under her breath. She'd been hoping for more time to sort herself out before facing her "stalker" again.

Checking herself in the mirror as she scrambled walked towards the door Shina thought to grab her house-robe out of the closet. It was chilly downstairs that morning, and she didn't want any bible salesmen or neighbors gawking at her cleavage, it was far to early to rip someone's throat out. As she opened the door though, and saw whom her morning visitor was, it occurred to Shina that the last thing _he_ would be looking at were her breasts.

"_Bonjour, cher_," Gado said smiling fondly down at his child, who stared up at him with wide, surprised, blue eyes. "_Comment allez-vous, ce matin?_"

"Da—Gado," she whispered under her breath somewhat stunned by his appearance. Until that moment, looking back into eyes that shared the color of her own, Shina had not realized that she had missed him so much. For a second Shina almost forgot how angry she was with him, she almost forgot what he and his ex-girlfriend, her mother, had done. Shina almost let go of herself and threw her arms around him…almost. Fortunately for Shina's pride though, and _unfortunately_ for Gado's intentions, the younger zoanthrope's pride and memory held and she caught herself just in time. The look of half-caste wonderment faded from her face and was replaced by a dark anger as she demanded, "What are you doing here?"

Gado swallowed. "What?" he asked, his naturally casual manners taking control in spite of the angry look covering his daughter's visage. "You haven't seen your father in over three months and you don't even have a hug for him?"

"No, actually I don't," she said coldly, her eyes shifting to the shade of ice. "I don't even remember saying you could visit here, Alan. In fact my words were: don't even fucking call me, I'll call you when I've calmed down." She crossed put her hands on her hips, a motion that all close to her were wary of. "And I don't believe I called you."

The old lion let out a sigh and crossed his arms. "Come on, kiddo, can't we talk this over?" he asked. "I've come all this way just to see you, don't let it be for nothing."

"Maybe you should have called first, huh?" she said with vicious flair and started to shut the door.

"Janie, please!" he exclaimed grasping the oaken barrier before it was completely closed. "Please," he begged as their eyes met between the crack between door and frame. "Just give me five minutes. Please, if you're still want me gone after that then I'll leave, no protest."

"If I want you gone _now,_ you'll leave, no protest, just like batwhore!" she hissed, the venom in her voice a kind she had never used with him before. "This is my house not yours, I don't live by you rules anymore, Alan."

"No, no you don't," he agreed, his features, which Shina now could easily place with her own, cool and smooth. "But I'm asking you as an adult and as your team leader, let me in and talk to me for five minutes." His good eye took on a piercing sheen. "Don't make me invoke the Mercenary code to make you return to headquarters with me, kiddo. I want to do this as adults not as an asshole."

Shina's shoulders stiffened with that threat, drawing herself up to her full height to look as intimidating as possible. This trick, however, she had learned from her father and he didn't budge. Instead he poked out his chest and looked back to her with an impassivness she could, anymore, genetically link to him. After a few tense seconds Shina let out her air and stepped back, opening the door all the way.

"Five minutes," she said grudgingly letting him pass her. "No more, right?"

"Right," Gado agreed with a nod, following the motion of her hand into the kitchen where he took a seat on one of the stools surrounding its island counter.

"So," Shina began tersely, keeping her arms crossed as she leaned against the sink. "What did you want, Alan?"

Gado looked away. "First and foremost I'd like for you to stop calling me Alan," he more or less requested. "I kinda miss being your father."

"_But Alan, you've been my father_," she said acidly. "Or did I mishear what you and batwhore told me in Paris?"

"Shina, don't use that name when it comes to your mother," he told her sternly. "It's not right, and furthermore—"

"And furthermore you don't even have a case to make anymore so you might as well save your breath, old man!" Shina snapped, her eyes taking on a gleam of rage he had seldom seen in her, if even he ever had. Gado swallowed hard once again. "There is no excuse for the lies and betrayals you two've been pulling on me for the last twenty-six years!"

"Shina, there are!" he protested urgently, trying to save her from completely closing him out. "You just won't listen to them! If you would just let your mother and I sit down with you and talk all of this over—"

"SHE IS _NOT_ MY MOTHER!" Shina screeched and angrily swiped two glasses off the counter top. Her father flinched, looking away and to the sparkling shards on the floor as she took several deep breaths trying to calm herself. Finally Shina asked, in a soft, almost lost voice, "Why did you have to come here?"

"Because I miss you and I want us to get past this, _fille_," Gado told her, the guilt biting his stomach. "Come home, Janie. Come with me and the rest of the team to Brazil. They've been asking about you, Vansant even says he's not very comfortable going unless you're there too. _Dieu_…Marvel…Let's go back to how we were, kiddo."

Shina looked back up at him, her eyes ringing with anger and resentment. "How we were?" she asked incredulously. "How we were! Dammit, Alan, it's too late for us to go back to the way we were! You fucked 'how we were' up when you and fucking Jenny decided it was time, after twenty-six years of concealment and lies and the false identity you just fucking plastered on me, that you needed to show me the truth! There is no fucking way in heaven or hell that you and I can go back—_Dad_!" She said the last word as if it was a curse, cutting him to a depth that she knew had been scored but that he would not show her.

He looked away while she glared at him wrathfully, her eyes slightly moist, fists clenched tightly. He opened his mouth to speak again but whatever he was going to say faded in his throat as he looked up to see the look on her face. The cold silence between them lasted several minutes.

"Your time's up," Shina finally told him, glancing at the clock before locking her eyes once more onto her bare feet.

"_Je suis désolé, le plus cher_," Gado whispered, features going slack as his good eye begged her not to do what she was about to do.

"Just go, Alan," she growled. "Leave, go to Brazil, you can explain to the men why their second in command isn't coming along."

"Shina please, I—"

"Just go," she cut in, the quiet poison in her voice carrying more weight than all the shouting in the world could.

Gado winced from her tone as he slid off his stool. For a moment he appeared to reach out for her arm but that didn't last. Instead he turned and marched solemnly for the front door. He did pause though, as he began to exit, to look back and meet his daughter's cold, hate filled eyes.

"_Vous pouvez me détester pour toujours, je ne vous inquiétez pas_," he said loudly and clearly, refusing to look away. "_Mais même si vous il ne changera pas le fait cela Je suis votre père, Jane. Toujours ont été, toujours seront. Je t'aime, ma fille, au revoir. (In English–You can hate me forever, it doesn't matter to me. But even if you do hate me forever, it will not change the fact that I am your father, Jane. Always was, always will be. I love you, my daughter, good-bye._)" And then he was gone.

Once more Shina had to fight and overthrow all of her childish urges that were telling her she needed to go after him. She held to her pride, wrapping her arms tight about herself and pushing down the lump that had formed in her throat. Never, not in a million years would she forgive either Gado and Jenny for this, she vowed to herself. The leopardess sucked in several deep breaths of air willing her nerves and emotions to straighten out. She couldn't let Sy see her in such a state.

Thinking of Sy she glanced to the staircase, surly he'd heard her arguing with her father. So why then hadn't he come down or made a signal to say he'd awakened. She frowned and headed back up stairs.

The her bed was empty when she walked in, neatly made as if no one had been there all night, the only sign there'd been anyone had been around being a note laying on her side of the bed. Curtains from her still open window fluttered in the morning breeze, the only sound within the chamber. Raising her eyebrows she picked the paper up and read the fine scrawl that had been penciled upon it in such a hurry.

_Dear chaton,_

_Sorry to have left you without any word but I heard you yelling at a man downstairs and, just in case, I was caught in the middle of a domestic squabble I felt it best for me to run. Don't worry though, I'm far from scared off, I enjoyed you immensely and I think you might say the same about me. I'll come back to you soon, so don't fret, you know, after all, once I tell you I'll do something I'll do it. I'm counting the moments until I see you again, chaton, and I hope you feel the same. _

_Love,_

_Your Sy_

_PS,_

_I hope you don't mind how I remade your bed. I'm a bit of a neat—freak._

_Love again,_

_Your Sy_

Shina reread the letter several times, sinking down onto the bed as she did. She looked from the letter, to her bed, to herself before letting out a rather disgruntled moan and flopping back against the comforter. She felt a little guilty about messing up the hospital corners. She wasn't sure what was annoying her more, the fact that he'd left abruptly for the second time, or that he had thought her father was her 'domestic'. She threw one of her neatly fluffed pillows across the room, groaning as she remembered that she still had to call Yugo.

**Interlude**

"Jesus Christ, I forgot how much I friggin hate to fly," Rieji grumbled as he followed Nagi out of the airport baggage check bay and towards the exit.

Nagi looked at her silver hair partner over the tops of her shades. "Reiji…_you're a crow_…" she said raising an eyebrow.

"Hey, it's different when I'm flying with _my_ wings," he informed her curtly, switching his back from his left shoulder to his right. "For one, _I'm_ in control, I crash then it's my own damn fault. For two, that's a fucking uncomfortable, rocky piece of scrap metal! Plus there was hardly a moment the entire trip that a baby wasn't crying or the brat setting behind me wasn't kicking my God Damn chair! Excuse me for hating the airport industry."

Nagi rolled her eyes. "Bitch, bitch, bitch, that's all you do, I swear," she sighed pushing her sunglasses back onto her forehead so he could see her roll her eyes. "Don't even act like you were tortured the entire way, man. Because we both know you were compensated." Her eyes became suggestive, prodding him to remember the few trips they'd made together into the airport restroom.

A slow grin spread across the crow zoanthrope's face as he reached over to grasp his partner by the waist, pulling her closer to him. Nagi rolled her eyes once more but did not push him away.

"So what do you suggest we do first?" she asked as they stepped out into the Manhattan Streets.

"Rent a hotel room," he chuckled.

Nagi didn't waste time with rolling her eyes this time and shoved her elbow into his side. "Fun time's over, Blackbird, we have work to do."

Reiji let out a long sigh. "Yeah, yeah," he agreed. He looked down the street thoughtfully trying to decide upon his options. "Which would you rather get out of the way first, Nag?"

"Shina," she said dully, just as Reiji knew that she would.

"Well then don't you think that we should hail a cab and get over there?" he asked.

"I think that _I_ should hail a cab and get over there, if that's what you mean," she corrected her best friend, pushing his arm off from around her hips.

Reiji narrowed his eyes.

"And what's that's supposed to mean?" he demanded. "You don't want me to go along with you to tell her? I thought I was moral support here!"

"You are, you are!" she said holding up her hands. "But, Reiji…Shina…She thinks you're a pervert."

"So? It's not like she'd the first!"

"Or at all wrong," Nagi added. She crossed her arms. "Look when Shina hears this…_news_ she isn't going to be very happy. Do you _want_ to be around Shina if she gets frustrated?"

Reiji's eyes widened and a thoughtful look passed over his face; he gulped.

"I didn't think so," she said smugly. She reached over to clap her partner on the back. "Hey don't look so down, Reij, think of this as downtime, man. Besides with only one of us at Shina's then that leaves you free to go and talk to Yugo." Reiji's face to lightened up at that point, as Yugo was probably the only member of their little troupe, besides to Nagi, who considered him a friend. Mostly because they both had minds (and eyes) that tended to sway to the best looking behind in the room. Taking advantage of the interest playing across his face, Nagi decided to prod her friend just a tad more.

"Hey, and didn't Yugo tell you that whenever you made it out here that you'd go out for some drinks?" she asked slyly, knowing she had sealed the deal.

"Well… guess I could drop by his new place and give him a heads up…" Reiji mused, feigning hesitation. "Are you sure you don't need me to come along, Nagi?"

"Positive," she assured him. "Your mission is to go to Yugo's, definitely."

"Okay then, if you insist…" he was already starting to hail his own cab. Nagi was about to follow his example, and had turned around when she felt a hand on her upper arm spinning her around. Reiji pressed his mouth over hers swiftly and hard, almost enough to bruise and making sure to take his time when pulling away.

"Don't let Shina kill you, okay?" he advised her when their eyes met again.

"Okay, don't let yourself or Yugo get too plastered, all right?" she countered.

"You're no fun, best friend," he told her letting go.

"And you you're _too_ much, _best friend_," Nagi retorted. "Now be careful, please, and tell Alice that I'll talk to her soon, 'kay?"

"You got it," he promised. And they turned their backs on one another, proceeding to their separate cabs that had pulled up to the curb.

**Interlude**

While the sound of clanging metal, welding, sawing, and engines were music to Yuri Bremen's ears they were far from melodic to the ears of the man he was leading through the landing pad where his team was loading the last of their supplies onto the four Blackhawk helicopters that were waiting there. Xion, in fact hated the deafening roar around him.

"So you're sure den, dat the old lion has vent onto Brazeel?" the mammoth Russian asked clearly above all of the din. "He has left his second behind in Manhattan?"

Xion caught the man's eyes and nodded, not about to start shouting over the noise, while in sign language telling him the name and exact latitude of the jungle village that they were headed. Bremen bowed his head in acknowledgment and thanks.

"Good," the older man murmured, a sheen that Xion found familiar to his own heart glimmering within his beady black eyes. "Very Good." Then over the din he shouted. "Natalia, Serge, Borkoff! Here, now!"

At once the redhead followed by two males just below her in rank trotted forward. Xion noticed that when she was decked out in full body armor Bremen's second looked very much like a man. The soldiers stood to full attention, their statuesque rigidness making the silver-haired zoanthrope inwardly cringe with disgust. When it came right down to it, he thought, humans would beg and move just like dogs, if they had the right sort of master.

"Ve vill be stickin vith the original game plan," he barked. "Natalia, you and Serge vill taking your units to Manhattan to flush out the majority of da targets. Do not, I repeat, _do not_ attempt to terminate any of dem. Do I make myself clear?" His dark soulless eyes flashed pointedly to Natalia who looked away all to innocently.

"I said do I make myself clear?" the older male asked, his eyes burned on the redheads pale skin. At once she came to attention, though Xion thought it was somewhat grudgingly, and saluted. "Good," Bremen said. He crossed his arms and continued to look the rest of the four over. "Borkoff, you and I vill be heading to Brazeel to meet up with our 'old friend'."

Borkoff, a man of small stature and even smaller hygiene cackled insanely showing off his yellow teeth as he fingered the bowie knife strapped to his hip.

"Remember," Xion to pushed his voice above the clamor, his eyes coolly meeting Bremen's. "Nothing happens to Gado unless word is given from myself, Busuzima, or Shenlong. We're going to have use of him down the road and he'll be no good to us dead. Is that clear, Mr. Bremen?"

Bremen smiled, a thing that would send shivers down most grown men's spines. "As Crystal, Mester Xion. After all," he rubbed the stub on his left arm, the spot where his hand should have been. "Revenge is a dish best served cold. I've had many years of cooling, a little longer will be quite bearable."

Xion smiled, as much as he disliked Bremen's attitude he did have to give the man credit for style.'

"Okay, you whelps, Let's move out!" commanding mercenary boomed to his three underlings who immediately followed suite, ushering their personal units into the Blackhawks. Xion watched as the soldiers boarded and took off, leaving him on the ground with the base operators and Bremen's personal assistant. The Unborn smiled to himself as he the choppers flew away, melting slowly into the infernal gray horizon. In his mind's eye he saw a satisfied grin on HER face, and knew that his cohorts and himself had moved one meticulously planned step closer to their goal. Turning on his heel Xion made for his own transport, a jet he would fly himself back to headquarters. He could hardly wait to inform Shenlong and Busuzima of his news.


	10. Attack Pt I

_**Authors Note**: Hola! I'm baaack! Okay first and foremost I would like to thank all of the faithful for returning to read my trivial drip once again, and I would like to give a special thank you to Tessen, ShinCouger, Hybrid thing, and AL, I love you guys, you'll never know just how much your comments help. This chapter is all for you. To my new readers, thanks for giving this story a chance and make sure to give me feedback. Not only is reviewing courteous and helpful to me when I'm trying to improve the work I do for _**your enjoyment**,_ but it will also save you from the giant chickens set to roam the earth upon my death. Ciao!_ ;-)

_**PS**: Don't kill me for the chapter's ending, ducklings, I'm just doing what I have to conserve space._

Yugo stared half-heartedly into the bathroom mirror as he prepared to leave for the WOC headquarters. Everything around him was just going to hell, or so it seemed. One of his best friends was mad at him, he couldn't seem to get the people from Bell's to compromise in any way, his little brother was close to a mental breakdown, and he was helpless over all of it. Shaking, it took all of the wolf zoanthrope's self control to keep from ramming his fist straight into the looking glass. He wanted control over _something_ around him, anything, and beating something until his fists were raw seemed to be good cure. He let a half growl and finished pulling his blue and black T-shirt over his head.

"Hey, babe!" Alice's cheerful voice greeted him as he left their room fully dressed and entered the living room/kitchen area. Yugo smiled at his girlfriend who was busy just finishing up a plate of fruit, her breakfast. The grin on the face of the male zoanthrope deepened when he saw a plate of bacon and eggs waiting for him on the table across from her. At least there was one thing in his life that he could say was going well for him.

He leaned down to catch Alice in a kiss, holding her there for a moment as he savored the taste of strawberries still clinging to her lips. "Thank you," he said before setting down.

"Wow," Alice giggled, her cheeks glowing. "I guess I should cook meat more often, heh?"

"A plus but I'd eat whatever you cooked anyway," he told her sweetly. "Well…except oatmeal, I won't eat oatmeal no matter who cooks it."

"I'll keep that in mind," Alice chuckled. They sat in contented silence for a few moments eating their breakfast before Alice hesitantly cut through it.

"You know, I've been thinking," she said after swallowing a mouthful of orange.

"Ooh, that's a scary thing to say," Yugo teased and was promptly smacked on his shoulder.

"Yugo, I'm trying to be serious, so please, pretend your IQ is over twelve!" his girlfriend growled.

"Okay, okay, sorry, continue please," he apologized before shoving a forkful of eggs into his mouth.

"Well…" she began her anger fading to make her little more hesitant than before. She knew, after all that this was not one of those subjects her boyfriend wasn't going to be keen on in the first place.

"Alice, I said I was sorry," Yugo sighed, looking up at her tiredly.

"No, no, it's not that," she assured him with a dismissive wave of her hand. "I—I just—Yugo I think that we should take Kenji to see Dr. Andrews." She bit her lower lip hard after she blurted the last few lines out.

Yugo's brow furrowed as he looked at his girlfriend. "Dr. Andrews? But isn't she the chief psychiatrist at your old hospital…" His features smoothed out quickly when the realization hit him like a cold hard fist to his temple.

"Now—now just hear me out, Yugo, please," Alice started to pacify him, holding up both of her hands.

"No," he said coolly, the look on his face almost scaring the rabbit zoanthrope.

"Yugo, he needs help that _we_ obviously can't give him—"

"Alice no!" he hissed angrily. "I'm not going to send him off to have his head examined! My little brother isn't crazy; he's just going through a phase. It's going to pass—"

"Yugo, you've been saying that for the last year!" Alice exclaimed throwing her hands up in frustration. "And in the last year his nightmares have only gotten worse!"

"Look he's okay, he's just having some bad dreams, we can handle that, it's no big deal," Yugo snapped. "Or are you saying that you don't like dealing with the kid?"

Hurt, pure and unyielding flashed across Alice's pretty face as she looked at her boyfriend. "Yugo! That's not fair!" Two tears leaked from her eyes. "I _love_ Kenji, he's as much family to me as he is to you, but unlike you, I can actually face the problems around him!"

"Problems!" Yugo exclaimed jumping up from the table. "What problems! He's having some nightmares! Christ, Alice, it isn't like he's some freaking delinquent!"

"You know I didn't mean it like that!"

"Maybe he should act more like Riko hmm? You know, grate on everyone's nerves and get suspended two or three times a year from school for pulling fire alarms because he wants to see his peers 'scramble like cockroaches'!" His face was absolutely cruel with sarcasm.

Rage coupled with the pain on Alice's face, creating a look that Yugo thought just might burn him alive. "You leave my sister out of it, Yugo Ohgami!" Alice snarled, her cheeks an ominous scarlet. "She has nothing to do with any of this! This is about _us_ doing what's right for _your_ brother!"

"Really? Well Alice, I don't think that sending him off to a shrink like he's some maniac is the 'right' thing to do!" he growled.

"Dammit Yugo don't make it sound like that!" Alice was nearly shrieking as more tears streamed down her face.

Yugo opened his mouth to make a lashing retort but stopped himself as he heard movement coming from the door behind Alice. The rabbit and the wolf hurried to school their features, Alice frantically wiping her eyes on her shirt sleeve, before the door opened and Kenji walked out.

"Good morning," he said politely, as he did every morning, heading over to grab an apple and a bottle of Sunny-D from the refrigerator. Alice and Yugo alike nearly heaved sighs of relief; he was oblivious to their little squabble.

"Morning, bro," Yugo managed to say, hiding his face as he sank back down into his seat.

"Feeling better, honey?" Alice asked, blinking to make sure her eyes were clear.

"Much," he said, making a good attempt at a smile to reassure her. He took a big bite out of his apple. "Sorry if I woke you earlier, Al."

"Don't even mention it, I barely noticed," she told him with a warm smile. Yugo, starting to realize the full affect that his harsh words might have had on his lover, bit the inside of his cheek until it bled.

"So what are you planning to do today?" Alice asked, continuing to divert herself by talking to the younger Ohgami. "Skate Park again?"

"Maybe later," he told her with a shrug. "First I promised Riko I'd go and pick her up at Master Long's house and so we could walk together for a little while."

"Oh, that's good, I'm heading over there before I go in for my shift at the hospital," Alice said, her face radiant with its usual perkiness, though Yugo could easily see that it was more than a little forced. "Do you want a lift?"

"That'd be cool, Al, thanks," Kenji said, his tan features spreading into a quick and rarely sincere smile. "When do you want to head out?"

"As soon as you're ready," she told him. "I've got an hour or so to kill before my shift starts."

"Well all I really have to do is grab my board before we go," he said.

Alice grinned. "Well then what are you waiting for? Go grab it and I'll meet you in the car, right?"

"Cool," the teenager said before gulping down that last of his orange drink and sprinting back into his room to grab his skateboard. In the few seconds he was gone an eternity was said between Yugo and Alice.

"Ally—" he attempted to start an apology, the look his girlfriend threw his way, however, quashed the effort. She stood and grabbed her keys that hung on a little hook near the kitchen cabinets before walking towards their front door. The last Yugo saw of Alice was her face, streaked with tears for a second time, as she pushed back the screen. A knot formed in the pit of Yugo's stomach as he watched her go. How he was going to make up for this he didn't know.

"Bye, Yugo, see you later," Kenji called as he dashed through the room and for the front door.

"Later, little brother," Yugo called, putting on a cheerful face as she waved goodbye to him. He sat in his seat for a few moments listening to the sound of Alice's Honda as it pulled off before getting up and calmly walking into their bedroom. Once inside, door closed, he proceeded to ram his fists over and over again into their mattress, hitting and punching until he could barely move his arms and a spring had busted through the surface.

He sank to the floor after his little fit, breathing heavily. He always managed to screw things up; no matter how cheerful it was Yugo could destroy the air. And right then, he realized, he just might have destroyed his future. A strangled cry escaped Yugo's throat as he slammed his sore fist against the bed frame, cracking the wood. Another growl cracked the air, if Alice wasn't leaving him she was most definitely going to bitch at him about the bed. He was debating on whether or not just to break the whole damn thing when the doorbell rang. The wolf looked between the bed and the door out into the living room a few times before letting out one final heavy breath and getting up.

"Hold, your horses, I'm coming," he snapped loudly as his visitor pressed the buzzer twice more with heavy impatience. Angrily he jerked open the door, hoping with all his might that it was a Jehovah's witness he could tear into. The person on the other side however was no Jehovah's Witness, however, in fact, there was more than one person on the other side, and the things they carried in their hands certainly weren't Bibles. Yugo noticed that much before he had to dive behind a counter to avoid a flurry of bullets.

**Interlude**

Still reeling from the confrontations with her father and guilty from not being able to reach Yugo, Shina showered, dressed, and gathered her things glumly, getting ready to head out the door. Her life was going down hill fast, and the only way that she felt she might get pulled out of a full-blown depression was to talk with someone who wouldn't judge her. And as much as she'd tried to hide her sadness from them she knew that the only real option she had was to go call Long and get him to go down to the WOC with her so that the two of them plus wolf-boy could have a nice long chat.

She really wasn't looking forward to any of it, especially since she had yet to apologize to Yugo, and now she'd have to do it in front of Long to make matters worse. In a way she was feeling her world fall apart around her, more than it already had been. Far too soon the threads in the safety net she'd made for herself three month's ago was unraveling itself, she could feel it, and she knew she was not at all ready for what she knew was inevitable.

"Damn you, Alan Gado," she whispered beneath her breath, pulling at the chain hooked onto her baggy camouflage pants. "Damn you, and damn her too." She bit down hard on her lip; she really wasn't ready for her silence to end. Her eyes prickled just a little, the first time she had felt the particular sensation in years.

She was just about to pick up her car keys when for a second time that morning the doorbell rang. Shina's fingers froze mid curl about the keys to her jeep. The prickle throbbed before passing once again, and she prayed as she went to answer the bell, that it was not Jenny or Alan. She didn't think that she could handle either of them at that moment, not if anyone was going to come out of the confrontation alive.

When Shina opened the door though, she knew the very last thing she'd be doing to the particular person waiting on the other side was maiming.

"Nagi!" she said in disbelief as she recognized the pale and pretty features attached to the straight chestnut mange.

"In the flesh," the spurious zoanthrope chuckled, beaming up at the taller woman. She held up her black jacket clad arms. "What's up, big sister?"

"Nag!" Shina almost, _almost_, squealed, as her friend threw her arms about her frame in a quick hug. "Christ, I can't believe you're here!"

"Believe it, babe, I'm live and here 'till Thursday, try the veal," Nagi giggled letting go and stepping back a foot or so.

"Well it's great to see you," Shina told her, ushering her over the threshold. "Come in, come in, have a seat, do you want a Coke or a beer?"

"A Coke would be absolutely phenomenal," Nagi almost sighed in relief as she followed Shina into the kitchen, plopping herself onto a counter stool. "I swear the service on International Air is absolutely abhorrent. Now I remember why I hate traveling so much."

Shina chuckled as she opened her fridge and tossed the brunette a red and white can. "I know what you mean. That's why I only do first class or private."

"And helicopters," Nagi reminded her with a grin as she snapped the tab on her soda.

"And helicopters," Shina agreed, grinning despite herself. She held up her can as she took a seat across from the Spurious and said, "Cheers," before taking a gulp.

"Here-here," Nagi agreed copying her, though unlike Shina Nagi took several extra seconds to finish of the entire can. Shina raised an eyebrow at the bobbing of her throat but said nothing.

"Sweet manna from heaven," Nagi sighed contentedly when she sat the can back down. She grinned into Shina's crystal blue eyes. "God bless you, my child."

"Your very welcome," the leopardess chuckled before taking another sip. "And speaking of 'Mana'," Shina grinned at her pun while Nagi rolled her eyes, "how _is_ the little priestess and Dragon-breath? Last I heard you were staying with them at the Nine-Tails temple. How did the journey to inner peace go? Hit Nirvana yet?"

Nagi, still very unsure of how to explain her reasons for visiting to Shina, decided not to directly broach the subject just yet. Instead she just put on a cynical half smile and rolled her eyes. "Do I look like Buddha yet?"

"Is that some trick question to get me to compliment you on your figure?" the blonde asked, looking at her friend with that single cocked eyebrow.

The spurious zoanthrope made a face. "Oh, haha, you're a witty one," she drawled.

"I know."

"No, no I think, actually that I'm farther from self-enlightenment than when I first decided to retreat," Nagi told her with a little sigh, her face sarcastically glum. She was lucky that Shina saw nothing belaying that comment and simply chuckled at her. "Please tell me what I was thinking? All she does is spout off stupid trivial sermons, and all he does is say 'Yes Mistress Mana', 'of course Mistress Mana'. Jeez I can't stand either of them!"

"Hehe, now you know why we all gave you the 'are you bonkers?' look when you announced your plans," Shina teased. Nagi made another face and flipped her off. "Hey I'm just pointing out the obvious."

"It was a nice change though," Nagi admitted to her, propping her elbows up on counter. "It was pretty and out of the way. Plus Mana was always in meditation and Ryoho kept to himself ninety-nine point nine percent of the time. Weeks would go bye and I wouldn't see either of them." The elder woman smiled. "It was a nice being away from the rest of the world, you know?"

"No, I don't, but I _can_ imagine," Shina joked making her friend laugh. "Though, I admit, the thought of being by myself for many weeks at a time is a bit scary. If I'm left to my own devices _too_ long…"

"Let's not think of that," Nagi suggested.

"Agreed."

"So how are Yugo and Long?" she asked, playing idly with the tab of her empty pop-can. "I was really surprised to here that WOC headquarters had moved to America. Not as surprised as I was to hear that Long had finally found a permanent place of residence within the city but I was still pretty surprised. Why the change?"

Shina shrugged. "He says it's because there would be more people we could get to in the U.S., you know, more influential and open minded people. Personally, I think that he finally got pinned for all of those unpaid traffic tickets in his glove compartment."

"Well he did have a lot…" Nagi chuckled. "And Tiger-boy? How's he enjoying city life?"

"Oh he loves it—when he leaves the house for one of his bi-weekly outings," Shina said. "But he's getting better at it. Uriko gets him out, Yugo and I get him out. The other night we even went clubbing…not that he joined in at all, but still, it was a step."

"Glad to hear it," Nagi said. The brunette smiled slowly, resting her chin in her hands as she lifted her eyebrows in Shina's direction. "Now the _big_ question."

"Ooh, do I get a prize if I answer right?"

"No."

"Dammit!"

"What made you follow them?"

The soft chatty air that had once filled the room faded, replaced by a cool and awkward pitfall of sound that Nagi could have kicked herself for. Shina felt the spurious looking her over very carefully, only to find her face cool and impassive, even for her. There was no way, though, to hide that this was something very, very big.

"It's—ugh—not something I really wanna talk about," Shina finally said, hoping Nagi didn't note how her knuckles went white as she gripped the tabletop so tightly.

"That's cool, I'm sorry I asked, really I—" Nagi started to apologize but closed her mouth when Shina held up her hand.

"No, no it's cool, no harm, no foul," the leopardess told her. "Let's just not bring it up anymore, 'kay?"

"'Kay," Nagi agreed quietly, biting down worriedly on the inside of her lip. Shina was just too internal at times for her friends, and she knew it.

"So what made you decide to leave the Japanese countryside?" the leopardess finally broke the silence after several long moments. "Did you just get bored with all that free time or did you actually have a purpose to leaving. Don't tell me it was just because you missed our happy little troupe?" She laughed the last few words, trying to lighten up the air once more. The plan though did not work as Nagi's face had become closed and taught. Shina frowned finally sensing the underlying tones to words that had yet to be said.

"Nag?" Shina questioned again, more seriously. "Nag, what's going on with you?"

"I—um—I did sort of come just to see you and the guys," she admitted slowly. "But—ugh—"

"But what, Nagi?" Shina prodded, her voice a little sharp, the preternatural senses everyone has when they know something bad is going to be revealed making the fine hairs on the nape of her neck stand on end.

"But I'm not—I'm not sure you'll—" Her vocal chords stopped this time not because of her nervousness, but because her own hair was starting to stand on end.

She looked to Shina, briefly meeting her eyes. The leopardess nodded in agreement, telling her without words that she sensed it as well. The two women slid off their seats crouching low to the floor as they moved around to crouch behind the counter. Shina motioned for Nagi to keep her eyes open while she stealthily opened one of the doors beneath island counter.

Behind the thin oaken panels Shina's secret armament stash was revealed, and Nagi didn't look the least bit surprised when the blonde slipped a fully loaded glock and extra ammo into her hand and jacket pockets. Shina herself picked up a glock while stuffing a smaller pistol into one of the many pockets on her cargo pants. She spared a second to grab a handful of smoke bombs, butane lighter, and some throwing knives. Shina would have offered Nagi some of the same but as she'd already seen a few shuriken poking out from beneath the spurious' leather jacket, she didn't bother. Besides at that exact same moment several of Shina's many large windows shattered against the hale of gunfire that had just erupted.

A snarl rumbled in Shina's throat as she and Nagi rose together in one fluid motion, back-to-back, and retaliated. Whoever had just broken into her home did not know what they'd gotten themselves into.

**Interlude**

"Master, are you done _yet_?" Uriko whined as Long wrapped up, or at least he attempted to wrap up, his meditation session in the garden.

Long peered at her from beneath lowered lashes, letting out a sigh. As much as he loved the girl, Uriko was all too often intolerable.

"Uriko, if you're hungry you can fix your own breakfast," her teacher reminded her.

"But that's just it, Master Long, I already cooked breakfast," she told him, bouncing around on her haunches. "I'm just waiting on you…I was hoping that Ally's lessons were paying off." The teenager gave him a pleading smile and Long let out yet another sighs he'd been giving off the last two days.

"Fine, fine Uriko, I'll join you," the tiger conceded, rising gracefully to his feet. The girl gave a giddy little laugh as she skipped ahead to push back the doors for her teacher. Long noted at once the overpowering yet enticing smell of wheat batter and cinnamon, even before he had stepped inside. Sure enough when he glanced over at the table he spied a stack of pancakes and pitcher of honey sitting in the middle of the table. A very large stack along with four plates.

"Uriko, why—" Long started to question his pupil when the doorbell rang.

"Oh good, they're here!" the girl said excitedly. She grinned at Long. "Go ahead and sit down, Master, I'll get the door!"

"Uriko who did—" Again the question on the tiger's lips faded as Uriko had already run to the front door. Yet another sigh escaped him. They really needed to work on Uriko's patience and listening skills. It really didn't matter, though, as all of Long's questions were answered when Uriko flung open the door and yelled, "Ally, Kenji, you're here, finally!"

"Sorry, twerp, didn't know we were keeping you from something," Alice chuckled, ruffling her little sister's hair as they hugged.

"You're only keeping all of us from the taste test!" Uriko reminded her, breaking away to throw an arm around Kenji who rolled his eyes at her.

"I think I'm afraid," the boy said to Alice before his best friend promptly hit him in the arm. The rabbit zoanthrope shook her head at the two before looking up at Long, a smile brightening her ivory features.

"Good morning, Long, how've you been holding up?" she asked, referring to, of course, her younger sibling who was yammering at her best friend.

"Well I haven't beaten her…_yet_," he chuckled. "I take it you're the reason that there are four plates at the table this morning, heh?"

"Yeah, didn't Riko tell you? Riko!" Alice threw her sister a reproving glare.

"What!" the girl exclaimed. "What'd I do now?"

"It's not what you did do it's what you forgot to do!" Alice growled, hands on her hips. "It was very inconsiderate of you not to tell Long you'd invited Kenji and me over for breakfast! You're a guest here, ya know!"

"Aw, Ally, Master doesn't mind," the girl told her. "Do you, Master Long?"

"No, I don't mind having either Alice or Kenji at my home, they know they're always welcome here," he began agreeably. "But—" he added as the girl started to look complacently at her sister. "But I would have preferred you asked me first."

Uriko looked down, cheeks a little red. "Yes, Master," she apologized immediately. "I'm sorry."

Long smiled. "Thank you, now, do you think we should get this over with? I'm sure your sister has to get to work and Kenji and yourself need to start walking for the park soon."

"Right!" she said, brightness returning as she gripped Kenji by the wrist. "Come on, you have to tell me if they're as good as Al's!" And she practically dragged the boy into the kitchen. Kenji had time for a furtive glance in the direction of the adults before he disappeared through the rice paper doors.

Long and Alice looked at one another, chuckling.

"So before we stare death in the face, how are you today, Alice?" Long asked as they slowly made their way towards the dining room, his hands behind his back. "Is Yugo doing better since he talked to Shina last night?"

At those words Alice's face and shoulder's went rigid, Long spying it through the corner of his eye. He stopped walking and reached out a hand to put on her shoulder. "Alice," he spoke more quietly, "are you all right?"

Long felt a tremor run through his friend and he saw the tears spilling over her eyelids even before catching glimpse of her face. Putting an arm around Alice's shoulders the tiger lead his friend out, hiding her tear streaked countenance with himself as they passed the teenagers in the dining room.

"Master what—" Uriko began to ask as the older zoanthropes walked right by the table only to be quieted by Kenji's fingertips on her wrist.

"Uriko, Kenji, I need to talk to Alice in private, stay inside," Long told his student, still covering Alice's sobs. He nodded to Kenji thanking him for his part in Uriko's silence, and also asking him wordlessly to maintain it. The boy, with a concerned glance at Alice's shaking back, nodded, and forced his best friend to focus on the food she'd made while the other two slipped out into garden.

Closing the doors firmly behind him on the way, Long lead Alice to the stone circle where he sat her down. No sooner had he taken a place across from her was Alice's voice strangled by pent up sobs. Long frowned, reaching out to hold her shoulders as she covered her face with her hands.

"Yugo is a bastard!" Alice sobbed, the combination of anger and pain in her voice startling the Kempo master.

"Oh—my—What happened?" Long stammered, unsure of whether or not he should be asking her, he didn't want to end up in the middle of his friends' fight, but still…when someone cried…

"Has—has Yugo told you about Kenji's nightmares?" Alice choked, albeit more quietly, even popping her head up to make sure that the two younger zoanthropes weren't eavesdropping.

Long nodded heavily, Yugo had indeed told him of his brother's problems…many times. Long however had not been able to suggest much, knowing that the obvious answer would only trigger the wolf's overprotective temper.

"Well, he had a really bad one this morning, poor baby," Alice confided, drawing her knees up closer to her chest, and wiping her eyes. "He—he was just—just a mess. Poor Kenji was screaming and vomiting, the boy was a complete wreck."

"It sounds like his condition's only getting worse," Long muttered, glancing worriedly back at his kitchen.

"That's what I said after telling him we need to take him to a psychiatrist," she cried.

"Oh, Alice…" he said, eyes widening behind his scholar's lenses. Even Long, as honest as he was, knew that he couldn't go there with Yugo over his brother.

"Well, Christ, Long, he needs it!" Alice hissed, careful to keep her voice down. "That kid isn't over what he used to do, and he never will be without help, especially if Yugo keeps trying to pretend it's not there and yells at me when all I'm trying to do is help that poor baby!" And Alice began to cry once more, softly as always, but with twice the hard emotion in her quivering shoulders than Long had seen.

Taken aback at first the tiger sat there simply staring at his friend, unsure of what to do. Hesitantly, he reached out meaning to pat her shoulder, only as soon as he tried to do that Alice let out a loud sniffle and threw her arms about his neck to bury her wet eyes in his shirt. Awkwardly Long rubbed her back, hoping that this was making one of them, at least, easier.

"I—I seriously might leave him over this, Long," Alice sniffled into his gi.

Long's eyes grew wide as he stared down at the auburn haired zoanthrope. "Alice, you, you don't mean that—" he attempted to dissuade her but Long's words were cut when Alice's violet-red eyes snapped on his face.

"Don't tell me what I do and don't mean, Long," she warned him, the look on her face scaring the martial arts master just a bit. "I don't care how protective his is over Kenji, I love him too and he has no right to treat me like he did!"

"Alice, I'm not saying that he did," Long told her, his ever calm facade not wavering. "Like you said it wasn't justified on any grounds."

"Exactly!" Alice said throwing her hands up in the air.

"But—" Long continued before she could begin another rant. He ignored the harsh caste to her eyes as he went on with his own speech. "But you have to understand that Yugo didn't mean to attack you like he did. He…just wants to save Kenji from himself, Alice. Yugo knows how Kenji feels about his past as Bakaryu, the boy's tried to kill himself for the things he was forced to do, and you know that. I think, that the way Yugo is looking at it, the more that Kenji is pushed to face his demons, _like visiting a psychiatrist_, the more likely that he is to lose the boy again." Long took in a breath and sat back on his rock, crossing his legs as he meet Alice's pained eyes with empathy. "And I completely understand how Yugo is willing to do anything to prevent that from happening."

The trembling in Alice's shoulders subsided as a new, less wrathful flow of tears began and Long reached over to cover her wrist with his own. "Yugo is utterly in love with you, Alice," the former assassin assured his friend with a gentle smile. "There is no doubt in my mind that you two will be spending the rest of your lives together. But he also loves his brother and it is his responsibility to care for him the best way he knows, and the best way Yugo knows is to try and repress all the worries that Kenji has."

"But that's only going to hurt Kenji in the end," Alice cried. "It's like a balloon, you can only fill it up so far before it explodes, I don't want that to happen to him! I love that kid! I love him as much as I love Riko!"

"It won't, Alice," Long told her comfortingly, the steadiness and serenity of his voice giving her much needed confidence. "None of us will let that happen, we just have to take some time to help Yugo come around. Trust me, he's probably regretting everything he said right now and rethinking your suggest to be the best solution he has."

"What if—" Alice started to ask but her voice faded quickly as the hairs on the nap of both her and Long's necks began to stand on end. The two glanced about the garden slowly, eyes meeting after a once around. They exchanged looks, Long nodding in the direction of his house and Alice nodding, a few seconds later they were running like mad back into the dojo, slamming the door behind them.

"Uriko, Kenji!" Alice shouted as they skidded inside.

"Ally?" Uriko exclaimed, mouth full of pancakes and syrup as she and her best friend looked up.

"What's wrong!" Kenji asked immediately, his muscles as rigid as those of the two adults.

There wasn't any time for an answer because no sooner had Alice started to make he reply, a large car, probably a Hummer by the size, though it did have more of an armored car design to it, drove through the back wall closest to Uriko. At the same time it's brother plowed through the front of the house, heavily armored soldiers following in both of their wakes.

**Interlude**

Sy was probably the happiest man in the world at that morning, as he strolled through the darker back alleys of Manhattan. Or at least the happiest man in the city. He had finally gotten what he had been living for the last year and a half; Sy had finally gotten Shina to see him.

He laughed outright as he ran a hand through his dually colored hair, thinking of all the things that awaited him now. This was only the beginning, he promised himself. There would be more between them than sex, Sy knew, especially if he continued to visit her sporadically. Absence, after all, he reasoned, made the heart grow fonder, and Shina would become very, very fond of him.

"Oh, chaton, the plans I have for you," he chuckled, shoving his hands deep into the pockets of his jeans. He licked his lips, remembering the taste of her as he walked along. Sy was absorbed so deeply in his thoughts that he didn't notice the approaching footsteps until trash can was accidentally overturned.

Hair standing on end Sy whipped his head to the right, already fearing who was waiting on him in the merging alley. His fears were confirmed as his new compatriot walked from the shadows. At first Sy didn't quite recognize the man, he was dressed differently than he had seen him before, Sy didn't think he'd ever saw the jet haired zoanthrope in anything that was not privately tailored. Though familiarity was lost in the baggy brown black pants and dull gray trench coat, the sunglasses he wore could never be forgotten. Even less forgettable than the shades were the piercing red eyes that were seen when the shades were lifted.

"You!" Sy growled, eyes growing wide and flashing ice blue.

"Hey, kid, long time no see," Shenlong chuckled, the smile on his face enough to send chills down Xion's spine. Of course the wrath that reverberated in the now glowing eyes of Sy was certainly more than enough to rival anything the clone could come up with. And for a second, Shenlong's resolve in his past vows wavered.


	11. Attack Pt II

_**Author's Notes Please Read:** Okay first and foremost to the faithful readers(especially Hybrid Thing) I am **SO** sorry for the delay but er...I've started college (which sucks by the way, I have **NO **free time anymore), and besides college and studying I have full time job. I feel really bad because I know there were/are (hopefully at least) a few people who regularly read this story as soon as I posted it. To them I'm sorry and I promise I'm going to do my very best not to let this happen again. Plus, I like this story and I've pretty much got the ending and lots of down the road drama already worked out in my head, so I intend to finish Dark Heavens. Really, cross my heart hope to die. To my new readers, what the fuck do you care? You just started reading this thing, don't fucking bitch about the delays to me for at least a month or two, dammit (jk). Sincerely I hope you enjoy the chapter. _

It was one of those strange days for Stun, one where the normal day to day routine with the children felt distant and hazy, as if he was watching the whole thing unfold from outside his own body. His skin tingled and crawled with anticipation, of what he was completely unsure of just yet. Perhaps it was because through all the daily rituals, his conversation with Jenny was constantly at the back of his mind. He wished more than anything in the world that he hadn't shown those pictures to her, but there was no way he couldn't. If she had similar knowledge about him, he would want to be told. His conscious had him screwed either way, it seemed.

He really just could not comprehend how Jenny was dealing with the situation with Shina. To know what she knew...it would drive him made. And combined with Shina's obstinance...yes he would indeed have gone mad.

"Uncle Stun?" a small voice broke through his thoughts. Stun's head jerked up and away from the book he'd been feigning to read, eyes focusing on the small face of Ursula. He looked at the little zoanthrope and then the clock. Eight fifteen, the children were not due to be up until nine, and the younger ones, Ursula in particular, could not often be forced up a second before (unless of course she was thinking of making breakfast for everyone).

"Ursula, what is it?" he asked, noticing she was clutching her teddy bear, aptly named Ursie Jr., very tightly.

The little girl's big brown eyes, already shiny, glazed over as tears began to form and she let out a little whimper before running to her caretaker. Stun put down his book at once to pick Ursula up in his massive arms, stroking her hair as she cried into his shirt.

"Shh...little one," he murmured. "Don't cry, I'm right here, you're safe."

"I–I had another one of the dreams!" she sniffled. "It–It was awful, Uncle!"

Despite the way his entire body went rigid from her words, Stun did nothing to allow the girl to sense any of his fear. Instead very calmly, almost soothingly, he asked, "What happened in your dream, Ursula?"

"The bad people came!" she told him, voice muffled by the fabric of his shirt. "They came to hurt us and destroy our home!"

"The same bad people you've drawn before?" Stun questioned, doing his very best not to take the girl and run right then and there. Ursula's dreams were frightening, when she dreamt them once, they were simply things that could happen in the near future, if she dreamt them twice...he prayed this was not a reoccurring dream.

"I–I saw the fire again, Uncle," she sobbed to his dismay. She looked up at him with her big brown eyes. "I'm sorry!" And she began to weep again.

"Calm down, Ursula," Stun told her calmly, even as he stood and began running towards the dormitories. He pushed open the door to the girls' room first.

"Martinique!" he said going over to the nearest bed where a girl of about sixteen years and what appeared to be South American heritage slept. He nudged her gently. The girl, already half awake, sat straight up at once, flicking on the lamp beside her bed as her eyes found the older zoanthrope's.

"Yes, sir?" she asked, her voice hushed.

"Get up and get the girls dressed then get out into the hall," he ordered, tones barely above a whisper. "I'm going next door to tell the boys the same. Hurry."

Martinique nodded with the conviction of a soldier before pushing back her blankets and going to rouse her younger roommates. At the same time Stun slipped out and next door, this time waking a blonde boy, also in his mid teens.

"Jonathon," Stun said turning the lights on himself. "Wake up Jonathon."

"Dr. Goldberg?" the boy questioned groggily, sitting to attention just as Martinique had. He rubbed his eyes on the back of his hand. "What–what is it, sir?"

"Up and dressed, help the younger ones," Stun told him. "Meet out in the hall. The girls will be there too. I'll be right back."

Just as his female counterpart had done Jonathon leapt out of bed to follow Stun's orders. Still carrying Ursula snugly against his chest Stun made the jog down the hall to his study. Throwing open the door and hitting the lights he went to his bookcase, looking over the shelves for a particular item. He found what he was looking for fairly quickly, a red book with an unmarked spine. Flipping it open revealed a hallowed out space filled with cash were there should have been words. He slipped the book into his shirt, making a mental note to slip it to Martinique or Jonathon once they made it to the surface, as there would be no telling what would happen to himself. He would at least make sure the children got away and were provided for. Taking a few more seconds t dress himself so that none would see his blue skin in the morning light. He doubted anyone would be paying attention in any case, as the institute was located in practical back alley of Manhattan, it's only normal visitors being crack addicts, hookers, and their fellows.

Upon entering the hall he found his charges filing out, Martinique and Jonathon helping a few of the younger children put on their shoes and other last minute garments. He counted the faces present, they were all there.

"Dr. Goldberg," came the voice of a boy named Eddie. "What–what's going on?"

"There's no time to explain everything, children," Stun said calmly. "Just know we must leave and we must leave now."

"Uncle Stun, are we–are gonna come back?" a boy just barely older than Ursula asked. "Is this still gonna be our home, Uncle?"

Stun pushed back the ache in his chest at the child's words and the look that crossed his and his peers faces. All of these children were orphans and in almost every case his zoanthrope institute was the only permanent place they'd ever come into.

"Probably not, Kenneth," Stun said, unable to soften the truth for his young ones. "Now come along. We've no time to waste." And he beckoned them to follow.

Stun led his frightened and sleep weary charges past the elevator and into his room, a room they had been forbidden from entering on all other days. He spared a second to hand Ursula over to Jonathon, before going over to yet another bookcase, and heaving it aside like a cardboard box. The children stared in wonder at the doorway the book case's absence revealed.

"Come along kids,"Stun said, taking Ursula up once again after he'd opened the door. "Hold hands, those of you with nocturnal vision need to switch it on. Jonathon, hold onto my shirt, I don't care if it rips just don't let go. The rest of you form a line, Marti, I want you to bring up the rear. Is that clear?"

"Yes, sir," came the expected chorus of young, scared voices.

"All right," he said moving into the blackness. As an afterthought, Stun called so that all his pupils could hear. "Don't worry, my darlings, I won't let anything happen to you, I promise."

By the way Ursula continued to cry, he did not think he'd done such a good job of convincing. Nevertheless he pushed onward down the dark hall, now sort of red in his night vision, until he reached the end and a series of metal rungs that lead up to what appeared to be a man whole cover.

"Jonathon?" he murmured reaching up to test a rung. It felt as solid as the day it was built.

"Yes, sir?" the teenager said gripping the beetle man's shirt a little more tightly.

"Take, Ursula again," he said turning to hand her gently into the arms of the boy. "I'm going to open it and check things out. I'll be right back." And he scrambled up the rungs, popping the manhole cover up. He looked around, doing his very best not to exclaim in horror as his eyes turned towards the left and the building that covered their home. It was on fire, just like in Ursula's drawings. It took every ounce of control for Stun to keep himself down and restrain himself from seeking out and maiming whomever had destroyed his home. Hi bite down on the inside of his cheek, forcing a wave of calm to cover him and formulate plan before slipping back down.

"Children," he spoke in quiet, almost serene tones. "Someone or something has set fire to the building over the Institute." He whistled sharply as cries of disbelief and sadness began to fill their little tunnel. "I'm telling you this," he began again when they were quiet, "because once we run from here, I will not be able to hide it from you. I need you all to be strong because we must flee quickly and I do not know what will be out there. Be assured I will not let anything in this world take you from me, but you must be calm and run when I tell you to run. And if by chance I have to leave you must listen to Marti and Jonathon. Do you all understand."

There was a slight hesitation but eventually an uneven chorus of "Yes, sir" greeted his ears.

"Good, I'm very proud of you all," he said hoping the warmth in his voice would comfort his charges. "Now, Marti, Jonathon, come here."

"Yes, Dr. Goldberg?" both teens murmured.

"If I do have to separate myself from you children I want you to take this," he slipped the book from the confines of his shirt and handed it over to the teenage girl, "and go to the WOC headquarters. Do you remember how I told you both to get there?"

"Yes, sir," Jonathon and Martinique chorused.

"Very Good," Stun said, reaching out to comfortingly squeeze their shoulders. "At the WOC you need to speak to Yugo Ohgami, Alice Nonomura, or Shina Gado. If the staff there is hesitant tell them to inform one of the three you were sent by Stun and went to his school. They'll be no trouble after that. Can you do that?"

"Yes, sir."

"All right, I know I can trust you two," the older zoanthrope murmured. "Okay now, we need to get out of here. I'm going to go up to the mouth, Jonathon you'll be positioned on the middle of the rungs, and Marti you'll be at the bottom. Starting with Martinique you'll help the younger ones climb up to Jonathon, who will then help them to me. Any problems?"

"No, sir,"

"Okay," Stun said heaving a sigh. "Let's get going, the sooner we leave the sooner we'll escape the bad things." And without another word, he grabbed Ursula up in his arm and scuttled out of the hole. "Stay here," he ordered the girl, setting her down right beside him before putting his arms back down into the hole. One by one Stun's students climbed up an out to stand with their mentor on the street side. He had gathered them all with the exception of Martinique who was pulling herself up and out of the manhole when the already tense air was set on fire by the crack of a gun and a series of shrieks. Stun paid no attention to the frightened cries, only to the cry of pain as Martinique clutching her arm, slumped on the ground.

"No!" Stun shouted leaping to pick up the fallen teen. To the rest of the children he bellowed, "Run! Run! Run! Follow Jonathon and don't look back!"

The children continued to scream in fright but did as he ordered, running as Jonathon guided them to hide behind the nearest building. Stun, carrying Martinique still, ran in the opposite direction, hoping the bullets would follow him instead of the kids. He jumped behind a broken down car that had been in their alley as long as the institute had been there. Laying Martinique down gently, he examined the shoulder she clutched. She'd been shot, not just grazed, shot, the bullet still embedded in her tan flesh. Luckily though, it had not went deep and the wound was outside, allowing him to pull it out quickly. He was further relieved as there was no spurting.

"Marti, honey, look at me," Stun ordered as the girl bit down on her lip and closed her eyes, doing her very best not to cry. She obeyed, Stun noting her eyes were starting to glaze, like she would soon slip into shock. He held her face in his hands. "Marti, you must stay awake and stay alert for me. I have to go, I have to leave you and fight." He continued to speak as he tore his shirt to form a tourniquet around the sluggishly bleeding wound. "I promise you, I won't let you die here. You or any of the others. Do you believe me?"

Despite her best efforts two tears leaked don the young girl's face and she leaned forward to hug him. "Be careful, Uncle," she cried into his shirt. Stun hugged her back.

"I'll be back soon, Marti," he assured her as he let go and stood. Seconds later he let out a loud guttural cry as he leapt into the air, shifting into his full zoanthrope form and heading toward the sounds of the bullets. As he ran, Stun spared a few seconds to check back on the part of his flock that had ran with Jonathon. They were safe, he could see Jonathon watching him from behind a large pile of debris. Stun prayed for their safety as he found the source of the attack.

He had been here before, in the dreams and drawings of his youngest student, standing in front of a big armored hummer, seven gunmen all taking aim at him. Somehow now, though, he found him self far less frightened than when he looked at Ursula's terrible visions. In fact, knowing he was here finally, Stun actually felt a little calm. He smiled inside, wondering how fast he could dismember them all. Seconds later another round of gunfire started, he wasn't even on the ground when the triggers were pulled.

Somersaulting through the air, Stun landed between several attackers. Grabbing one and snapping his neck before he could fire, the zoanthrope used the limp body of his would-be assailant as a shield, throwing him into another attacker when he got close enough to grab a third by the throat. Crushing the new victim's windpipe with a casual press of his thumb, he once again tossed a the body at his fellows. At this point the rest of the attackers had realized that this might have been a mistake, particularly as three or four more comrades heads were taken of by a quick swipe of the claws on his right hand.

Through the complete fear and chaos of Stun's attack, however, one of the assailants had enough sense to aim hide and aid at the back of Stun's head through the back of sniper rifle. He was about to squeeze the trigger when his scope went black.

"Now, now," a husky voice chided in his ear (or at least close to it, after all he and his fellows were wearing helmets). "Haven't you heard it isn't nice to shoot someone in the back." The shooter jerked his head up to lay eyes on one of the most beautiful women he'd ever seen, right before she broke his neck. Jenny blew the body a kiss before picking up his rifle and shouting, "Stephen! Heads up!"

Stun, recognizing her voice, dropped low, allowing his friend to pick off the remaining men, while he punched through the plate armor over the driver's side window on the hummer and ripped out the throat of the man starting to put it in reverse. With that last deed there was quiet broken briefly as Stun changed back into his "normal" form and Jenny leapt to his side.

"It's happening isn't it?" she asked, green eyes wide.

"Yes," he said, already rushing over to where Martinique still lay. He knelt down to scoop the girl up into his massive arms for a second time. "How long were you there?"

"Long enough to make sure they're all gone," she replied. Jenny looked at the girl. "Where–where will you take her?"

"I don't know yet," he murmured. "I highly doubt I can just waltz up to a hospital, can I?"

"No, not wise," Jenny agreed. "But I know what you can do instead."

"What?" he asked.

"Take their car and drive to the private airfields on the eastern side," she told him. "My private jet is docked there in gate 673, I'll call the guards to let them know you're coming and to get a doctor there. Wait for me." And Jenny turned about to morph.

"Jenny–where–" he began.

"I'm going to get my daughter!" she called leaping into the air. "Wether Jane likes it or not, I'm going to protect her! Get your kids and get moving, twenty bucks says the doctor will be there before you at this rate."

Stun watched her go, wishing he could follow her. _Shina Gado, you should be grateful_, he thought as he called for Jonathon and the rest of the kids and herding them into the hummer, after disposing of the driver's body of course_. That woman would die for you. I hope you get that through your thick skull before she has to prove it._

**Interlude**

Sy and Shenlong stared each other down for a few moments, the first with lips curled in a snarl and fists clenched, the second face blank as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"What," Sy growled, when he could get no reaction by simply glaring at the older male, "are _you _doing here!"

"Well that's a fine greeting for you," Shenlong chuckled. "You haven't seen me in over a year and I don't even get a hug before you're lashing out at me? My oh my, I should have worked with you better on your manners, my boy."

"Stop fucking with me, Shenlong!" Sy barked, crouching low to the ground, fingers twisting into 'claw' formation in anticipation of an attack. "What the hell are you doing here! What do you want!"

"Why oh why do I have to have a reason for wanting to see you, kiddo?" he asked still toying with the younger man in a cattish way. "Isn't missing you enough of one, son?"

"Not with you and those other two deranged idiots you've allied yourself with, _Pops_," he replied, the last word thrown to bite and sting. Wether it worked, Sy could not read in the scarlet of Shenlong's irises. "Now answer me, God dammit! What are you doing here!"

Shenlong sighed, pocketing his shades. "So direct, I _really _should have attended to your manners more."

"You should have," Sy agreed. "But then again you should have attended a lot of things better, shouldn't you've?" At that there was the tiniest spark in Shenlong's eyes, but Sy didn't pursue the subject that caused it any further. "Now I'll ask you one last time, what are you doing here, Shenlong?"

"I came to deal with you kid," he said, cutting the cat and mouse routine.

"What makes you think I'd want to deal with you?" Sy demanded coldly.

"Maybe the fact that SHE had finally risen," Shenlong replied an equal amount of ice in his voice. At once Sy's wrathful features went slack, the glow in his eyes disappearing as they widened in complete fear.

"Y–you didn't!" the younger man exclaimed hoarsely. "You _couldn't_!"

"We could, and we did, Sy," Shenlong told him. "It's only a matter of time before all the other pieces fall into place. The Cloud, the Lightening, the Thunder. They will all gather for her and be sacrificed in the end. You know that."

The fear dissipate from Sy's face at once, the rage taking control again.

"She's MINE!" Sy shouted. "You bastards stay the fuck away from her!"

"Trust me we don't have to go after her, son," Shenlong said. "SHE will take care of all the chasing for herself. All we're going to do is watch...and of course do a little button pushing..."

"What gave you done!" Sy hissed, now trembling with rage. "What have you done to Shina!"

"I haven't done a damn thing," Shenlong replied, the vindictive cat returning to his tone. "Now the soldiers at her home right now...well...I can't promise anything for them."

"You SON OF A BITCH!" Sy roared louder and with more anger than Shenlong had ever managed to in his beast form. The older man ducked and rolled as the younger's shout cause quite a little boom around him. He felt his heart miss a few beats as Sy's eyes glowed like amethyst fire on his face.

"If anything happens to Shina, I WILL KILL YOU!" he said in voice that was otherworldly and frightening enough to make Shenlong think twice about the things he was doing. He had no time to make a reply, not even to blink because there was a second boom of power, and when Shenlong looked again Sy was no where to be seen.

The clone picked himself up slowly, dusting off his clothes as he looked at the spot where Sy had been standing not a moment before. He stood there for a long time, just staring at the cement. Finally reached inside of jacket to pull out a satellite phone. He pushed the first unmarked button to the left and brought it to his ear.

"Has he taken the bait?" came the cold voice of Xion on the other end.

"Yeah," Shenlong said, swallowing hard as he remembered the look on Sy's face. "He's getting ready to play knight in shining armor. How are things on your end?"

"Bremen called a few minutes ago," the Unborn told him. "He and his team have already went hunting."

**Interlude**

"Vansant tighten the lines!" Gado ordered his new temporary (hopefully in any case) second in command, as his team stalked through the dense Amazon. They'd been searching for their would be opponents, a group of Drug peddling Guerillas since very early that morning, and had yet to find a trace of their whereabouts. Needless to say everyone was more than a little frustrated and tired as the later afternoon began to where on. "Avionne, communication lines still open with camp?" he asked as they came upon a ravine.

"Clear as that big blue sky, Mon Capitaine," the only woman in the unite besides his absent daughter, their field electronics expert, told him.

"Good," the old lion said more to himself than anything as they made their way along. Still though Gado could not help but feel there was something very wrong with things. He wasn't sure, none of the tips they'd heard sounded fishy, the people who'd paid them for their assistance couldn't be described as particularly cunning in action or speech, it was just the air...and he had a good idea of what had caused it.

"All right people, halt," Gado ordered holding up his hand. "We'll stop here for a few minutes. Paxton?"

"Sir?" came the reply from his scoutmaster as he appeared before and saluted his leader.

"Take your boys and cross that ravine after you've had about six minutes rest," Gado told him as he opened his canteen to take a short drink. "Scope and report back wether or not there's a point of us crossing or just splitting to the north or south."

"Sir, yes, Sir," Paxton said with another salute before going off to tell his men their orders. Meanwhile Gado motioned to Vansant, Avionne, and two other unit leaders called Egret and Kaz.

"Sir?" they all said at once.

"Rest," he ordered. "Well except you Avionne, you need to set your com. center up, I'm not sure how soon we'll be leaving this place."

A second chorus of "Sir, yes, Sir", and they too left him to attend to their duties. Gado took the moments of alone time to retreat behind a few trees. No one was likely to follow him as they probably assumed he was using the latrine. Behind the trees he reached into his vestments to pull out a familiar photo. He was surprised after all this time, especially after these last few months, that the thing hadn't been faded and rubbed to nothing by his fingers.

"_Ma fille...comment je vous manque..._" he murmured tracing the line of Shina's face. It was almost funny to him now, once he thought he could not live with the girl, not bear seeing her entangled in his harsh existence. And now...he almost laughed, he couldn't live without her. Gado had cursed himself many times over the years, for the things he could not give his child, for his lies he did give, for the things he had missed and lost with her. Now though, even the self loathing brought no relief over his situation with his child. He closed his eyes, mind slipping to place and time he'd tried for many, many, years to forget.

/_"Alan, Tomas and Ingrid just agreed..." came a soft female voice from behind him as he stared out his loft window in Paris. He had two good eyes, back then, both of them keen as they turned to meet a pair of green ones._

_Jenny Burtory, his lover at the time, had never looked so beautiful, or so sad. And it was all because of the being resting comfortably inside her belly, swollen from sixth months of carrying._

"_I'm not surprised," came the murmur of another man. "They **have **been trying forever to have one of their own." _

_Alan glanced to his right, where his best friend and constant compatriot Yuji Ohgami sat, a toddler little less than two slumbering against him. He was envious of Yuji, truly at that moment. He could afford to keep **his **offspring, the mother of his son was a normal woman with a normal job and a normal life. There would never be any need to fear little Yugo would be blown to bits in his father's apartment, or he might get kidnaped while Yuji was off doing important work. His mother's normalcy would provide a haven for the boy, at least during the tender years for which he would need protection from the world of the two older males in the room. When he was older though, well that was up to fate. Yuji dreaded the times that were to come for his son, but Gado had never been so vexed on the boy's behalf. Perhaps because it was not his child, Gado though, had thought just looking at Yugo shortly after he was born he was going to be a strong one. Gado was seldom ever wrong when it came to those instincts._

_Not you though, Cheri, the lion thought, glancing back at Jenny who had a long fingered hand gently pressed over her belly. Two days ago they had found out it was going to be a girl, so whenever Alan found himself thinking or talking of the baby, the word Cheri, always popped into his head. He'd already given her a pet name in his mind. A useless and stupid thing to do, considering the way they had just recently decided to deal with her arrival. Your Mama and I aren't so good at splitting this domestic routine up. We tried though, you should know._

"_I know I've said this before, you two," Yuji murmured, moving to press a hand over gently his son's ears incase things got loud. "But you're making a mistake."_

"_I don't see how it could be bigger than deciding to raise her in all this mess," Jenny murmured, stroking her stomach. "I may be blonde, but I'm not a complete ditz, Yuji. Janie's safety comes first."_

_Gado raised an eyebrow at that last sentence. "I thought we agreed not to name her?" he questioned folding his arms._

_Jenny shrugged her shoulders. "We agreed on many things, paramour," she replied nonchalantly. "We also agreed not to ask about the gender." Her eyes became a little sharp and he looked down at his boots._

"_I like the name Jane," Yuji offered, trying to ease the tense air. "Feels like a combination of Jenny and Alan...if I'm not being too–"_

"_You are," Alan cut in tersely._

"_Sorry," Yuji said holding up his hands._

"_Just please stop it, Yuji," Jenny told him kindly. "We've both made up our minds...My life is too dangerous and so is Alan's, there's no way in hell we could keep and protect her."_

_Yuji's eyebrows went up but he said no more, mostly because Yugo had woken up and was begging for attention._

"_Da-da!" he said pulling on his father's shirt. "Da-day hungey! Icken ousp!"_

"_Well he's certainly your's," Alan commented. "Not even a second awake and he wants to stuff his face–he um–he was saying he wanted some food...right?"_

"_Chicken soup," Yuji replied as he stood with his boy in his arms. "Isn't that right, my little hairless monkey?"_

"_Da-day!" was the gurgled reply._

"_Yes, I thought so," Yuji laughed, cradling Yugo on his hip, an awkward pose for the thin man. "Well I believe I have to go feed the lad. I'll see you both later."_

"_Au revoir," Alan said, reaching a big hand out to gently pass it through Yugo's already thick head of hair._ _"Et au revoir à vous aussi, petit l'un."_

"_Revoir," Yugo burbled then hiccupped._

_The three adults laughed._

"_Don't get too excited," his father said. "He repeats just about anything. I highly doubt you'll have my kid speaking two languages." He moved Yugo from his hip to rest against his chest, tickling the child's sides as he did to induce a fit of giggles._

"_Goodbye, Yuji, it was nice seeing you again," Jenny said shaking his hand._

"_Likewise, Jen," he said with a smile._

"_And goodbye to you too, handsome," she cooed ducking her head down just a little to kiss the toddler on his cheek._

"_Icken ousp!" Yugo laughed._

_Again the three laughed._

"_Yes, yes, I know, the beast must be fed," Yuji chuckled. "Goodbye, all, I'll talk to you later."_

"_Bye."_

"_I'll see you later, Yuji."_

_The couple waited a few seconds after the front door had closed before Gado turned to face his lover._

"_Yes, before you asked I explained the rules to them," Jenny sighed a little wearily as she passed him to sink into the nearest chair. "No contact with us whatsoever after we give her to them. They won't let her know she's adopted let alone give her our names. I also called Mershon," she named her lawyer, "and had him type this up. They'll get a paper to sign over all of this."_

_Gado grunted, going back to stand before the window. "You make it sound like it's all so simple," he murmured looking down on the city lights. "The way you talk."_

"_Yeah...isn't it lovely to imagine a world were it all could be that easy?" she asked._

"_I–I don't want to do this Jen," he said quietly, almost so that she didn't hear him. "I know we said we wouldn't talk about it but I–"_

"_So don't then," she cut him off cooly, rubbing her stomach as if to reassure the child inside. "It won't do any of us any good."_

"_Still," he said, walking over to lay his hand over hers, specifically the one she had upon her belly. "I really wanted...I think...Yuji could have a point..."_

"_He does," she told him with a tearful sort of smile. "We could try Alan, we could, we could be the picture perfect little family...and Jane would make it to her fourth birthday if she was lucky."_

"_Yeah," he agreed. He smirked just a little. "Forgive me it's just seeing Yuji with Yugo..."_

"_Yes, well, Yuji isn't us, he's at least got a safety net for his son," she said. "He can afford to indulge. There's no way on earth we could be so selfish to risk her life, we're in far too deep, paramour."_

"_I know," he said closing his eyes. "I know."_

"_Look at it this way," she said forcing a cheerful smile, though tears had started to run down her face. "Our Jane will be about the most loved little girl in the world. She'll be living with people who'll adore her, and she'll have more who adore her even more from afar."_

"_Again, amour, I commend your flowery turn of phrase," he chuckled. "It **does **make me feel a little better."/_

"I'm an idiot," the old lion murmured aloud, staring down at the picture a few more seconds. He repeated that sentiment to himself many times over as Avionne yelled for him.

"Capitaine!" she shouted bringing him bolting out from the trees. "Capitaine, the signal from the main camp has been cut!"

"All channels!" he demanded trying to remain calm.

"Oui, every one!" she said, fervently looking over all her equipment and trying to find a way to make it work. "Sacré!" she yelped again suddenly.

"What now!" he demanded as the ominous air began to rise all through his units, each man tightening hold on his weapon.

"Paxton's communicator just went out!" she almost shrieked.

"Calm down, Avionne!" Gado ordered, refusing to let himself become frightened or flustered. "The rest of you get on guard and–"

Gado was interrupted by the shout of several men, and a gunshot. Gado turned just in time to see Vansant's brains splatter upon two underlings.

"_Condamner_!" the lion roared. "_Obtenir en bas_! _Obtenir en bas_! NOW!" Despite his forceful tone though, nothing he said could affect his men, particularly as Avionne, and several others received fates identical to Vansant's. With another curse Gado, knowing there was not much else he could do, yelled, "_Retraite_!" To those still alive and could hear. It was complete mayhem.

The remainder of his soldiers scattered, as they were taught to if a situation like this was ever to come up, not that scattering helped much as several helicopters had appeared out of no where. More curses escaped Gado, who, seeing there was not much option left if he was to survive, morphed, and began a run.

How did they know? He thought as he ran. _How could they know? I was so thorough! I've never been duped before, not since... _His mind flickered back to when he'd lost Yuji, he'd been so bereaved so distracted by his loss he'd nearly let himself die. And then he thought of Shina...

He roared again, much more loudly as a fifth helicopter appeared from nowhere, right before him. He got a good enough look to see a sniper checking him out from inside before he had to duck when the weapon discharged. As he rolled he noticed the sniper hadn't fired a bullet, but a little red tipped dart. They were hunting _him_, and only him.

"I don't think so!" he snarled before starting another sprint, zigzagging through the trees. That didn't seem to be helping him in the slightest however, as the darts kept coming along with the chopper. Gado did not stop though, not even when he felt one of the darts pierce his arm, or when bullets started coming. He ran, and ran, and ran, until he came to the mouth of the ravine. He stared down at the lush canyon below, it was at least a thousand foot drop onto the canopy down there.

The old lion tried to think. There had to be something, some way out of this... Gado grimaced as a sudden woozy feeling washed over him, he snarled, pulling the needle from his arm.

_I am not going to go like this_, he said to himself forcing clarity and strength. _I won't! Not until I see Janie again! Not until I–_

A third roar erupted from Gado as his pursuers hit him with a second dart, then a third and a fourth straight after. Apparently, they were tired of playing chase.

_Je suis désolé, le chéri., _Gado thought to himself as he once again pulled out Shina's picture. _Pour tout. Je vous aime. _He kissed the photo and jumped, arms outstretched in a swan dive as he plummeted. He didn't close his eyes as he fell, there wasn't a need to, if the tranquilizers they'd shot him up with worked like they were supposed to he'd be asleep by the time his body broke apart on the debris below. Or at least that was how it was supposed to happen, Gado's plan was interrupted by two more choppers that came out of no where (at least it seemed that way to him at first, after all the tranquilizers were starting to make everything very fuzzy), a net tied between them.

Quite artfully the two helicopters positioned themselves just perfectly to catch him. Laying in the sagging of the net Gado's vision began to scissor in and out, but he was still aware enough that when he looked up at one of the copters, inside he recognized one of the people standing there immediately. It was a man as massive as him, but far more scared and craggy in features, his right hand missing.

"Bremen..." he groaned remembering the last time he'd ever saw that man. It was the same day he'd lost his eye. Fear filled his core for what Bremen was going to do. None of Gado's fears had anything to do with what would happen to him physically, he'd been through enough pain to take anything like that. What ate at Gado's mind were secrets he had been entrusted with, things that could be taken from him by any number of ways and that he had sworn to uphold. Biting down hard on his lower lip, he used the pain to give focus and clarity, while he forced his right hand to go up to his neck. Reaching into his shirt he felt around until his fingers caught around the chain of his dog tags. Pulling the tags out of his shirt he felt around for the tags themselves. Gado's tags were a bit odd, there were three of them instead of two, and of course the third wasn't really a tag. He felt the three pieces of metal, grasping the one that had a strange series of bumps covering it. Grasping it firmly in his think fingers Gado snapped that tag in half, letting the pieces fall.

_Hurry up, _were his last thoughts as the blackness claimed him. _Shina, Mon Dieu, please get over your anger. Please, I need you now, chéri. Please, please, don't be so angry at me that you forget the promise we made..._

**Interlude**

"You summoned me, Elder?" a young woman, thousands of miles away from Gado, asked as she entered the tent of a man with a long mange of white hair.

The woman was a tall, svelte creature, mostly legs. Her skin was a soft golden brown color somewhat akin to caramel withlong black tribal lines tattooedspiraling down her legs and arms, and could also be seen peeking through on her abdomen. The long cascade of hair down her back as black as the man's standing in front of her was white. She dressed a little strangely, a light blue sarong tied about her waist (to show the legs off no doubt), a wrap shirt of an even lighter blue secured with a white sash, and a pair of sandals that laced up mid-calf. Her eyes, which were large and long lashed, were the of the same sky tones as her skirt, and they regarded the old man before her with respect and wariness.

"I did," the old man, who was actually her paternal grandfather, said inclining his head just a little. "It seems that there is a situation with brother Alan."

Her eyes once, so cool became just a tad wider. "Uncle Alan?" she murmured. "He's in danger?"

"Very much so, _Kish'hana_," the Elder replied. "He broke his talisman not even a moment ago. It's runes of memory told me many things. You are needed by your people. He must be rescued."

"And cousin Shina, Elder?" she asked. "Where–is–is she all right?"

"No, I do not believe she is," he told her, shaking his head sadly. "But she is not with brother Alan," he added this last part quickly, allowing his granddaughter a bit of relief. "She is in trouble as well, though I do believe she will soon be out of it. You must find her and her companions–know now there will be many–and take them to rescue brother Alan. Remind her of the _Sithan'Kri_, it must be upheld."

She nodded at once.

"Go, _Kish'hana_," the Elder ordered waving his hand. "And hurry! There are many things that twist and burn beneath the surface. I feel this is only a harbinger of darker things to come. Go now and become _Shai'daikour_."

"Yes, my Elder." And she bowed deeply before exiting the tent.


	12. To The Rescue

_**Authors Notes**: Well here's number 11 children, hope you enjoy it–oh and much love to Hybrid Thing and Als. PS AL, honey, STOP BITCHIN ABOUT THE SHINA JENNY THING! GRR RIGHT BACK AT YOU! Lol, you know I luv ya! And to ShinCougar and Hybrid Thing THANK YOU! PPS Shin, dear, don't bite off AL's head, play nice kids. Oh, and I'm also sorry for the shortness of this chapter, I'm just trying to split things up for content purposes._

Shina kept her back to Nagi's as they stood to return fire quickly before crouching down between the counters once more. Between shots and ducks Shina got a chance to eye their attackers. They were definitely a Merc team, there was no doubt, they had armored hummers similar to the ones she and Gado commanded, and their formation was pretty tight. Of course, whatever team they belonged to they weren't very effective marksmen. The same, however could not be said for Shina and Nagi. The leopardess and her compatriot's aim was very keen, each of them managing to hit an opening each time they stood. Of course this wasn't making much difference, as the bullets just kept coming.

"So," Shina said as they dropped and reloaded. "Was this–"

"Yeah, partly," the Spurious told her. "Though I had no idea it would happen this fast. I thought I'd at least have time to talk to you then meet back up with Reiji."

"Big Bird's here?" Shina asked above the fire as they finished loading and jumped up once more.

"Yeah!" Nagi replied, taking pride in a nice clean shot to an assailant's jugular. "I couldn't come back out of hiding without going to see him, you know that!"

"Well where is he?" Shina asked, dropping back to the floor with her friend. "Cause it would really figure he'd pick a time like this for sight seeing!"

"Sorry to disappoint the cynic in you, honey, but he went to see Yugo," Nagi replied, unable to keep herself from grinning. "And seeing that these cretins are here already, I have no doubt that Reiji and the mutt have their hands full."

At those words Shina's insides clenched hard. _Yugo_... she thought, the fear and guilt already riddling her intensifying like flames over kerosine so that it became outright painful. It became even more bitter (how she could not fathom) when the faces of Alice and Kenji entered her mind. The anguish, however transformed into something that anyone facing her should fear, she herself was transforming without relying on her zoanthrope power. Rising in her throat came the rage that willed her to defend her friends, to get to Yugo and apologize before it was too late. She now almost felt sorry for the ants that were in her way.

"Nagi?" Shina said, reaching into the cabinet again, her voice frighteningly calm.

"Yeah, Shina?" she asked, not yet seeing the strange look on her friends face or interpreting her tone.

"We need to get out of here," Shina told her. "Now."

"Thanks Captain Obvious–"

"Shut up and stay down," the blonde snapped, pulling out two semi-automatics that were of a design Nagi had yet to see anywhere else. "I'm fucking sick of pissing around with these chumps."

"Be careful," Nagi said for good measure, though by the look on Shina's face (which she had finally seen) the friendly gesture wasn't necessary.

"Always," Shina said dryly as she leapt up onto the counter. In the first sixth of a second she took stance, in the second sixth she raised her arms, in the third she aimed to the right, in the fourth to the left, in the fifth she laid her finger over the trigger, and in the sixth she fired. Two on each side went down before Shina, in a cartwheeling sort of motion propelled herself off the countertop and through the window, shooting adversaries midair.

"Fucking amateurs!" she snarled lifting her guns to blow several more heads off before rolling across the ground to dodge return fire. Coming to halt near the hummer, the leopard zoanthrope rose on her haunches, and started shooting her second round. Several more assailants dropped and she rolled again, this time to crouch on the other side of the vehicle where there were three gunmen gathered.

She went from lying on her back to her feet in less than a second, coming up very close to the muzzle of what appeared to be a Thompson. Not close enough, however, and she'd pressed the tip one of her weapons into an exposed portion of his throat. Blood splattered onto Shina's tank top and jacket, but she was completely unfazed. A fact proven as at the same time the redness hit her, a second opponent who'd barely raised his gun, went down. The third, who was dangerously close had first his ribs broken by a very powerful upward kick, and then his spinal column snapped when Shina dropped his comrade and drove the heel of her boot into the middle of his back. Spinning about the young mercenaria had her guns up once again, intending to roll over the hood of the hummer and bust some more heads. Her intentions however were cut as she found someone else had already beat her to that, and was preparing to fire a bullet straight into her forehead.

Cursing herself, Shina had a brief moment to reflect on her odd life, as she prepared to die. Her reflections, while not meaningless, were proved unnecessary as a snarl broke through the tense moment and a pair of white arms grasped the person about to end her life, and snapped his neck.

Shina blinked rapidly as she met a pair of frightened amethyst eyes.

"Sy?" she murmured somewhat dazed, right before he practically tackled her, hiding their bodies with the hummer as they landed on the ground.

"Are you all right?" he asked, plainly worried on her behalf. His hands traveled to the blood spattered areas of her arm and shirt. "Shina? Did they hurt you? Shina answer me!"

The leopardess shook her head, finally breaking from her shocked state, trying to clear her head. "I–I'm fine," she told him. "It's not my blood." She nodded to the three men lying only a few feet away from them. Her eyes suddenly narrowed, as she came to her senses, and without much effort rolled herself and Sy so that she was on top, pointing her guns down at him.

"What in the hell are you _doing _here?" she demanded in a low deadly voice.

"You're really beautiful when you're angry and blood splattered, you know?" he murmured almost lovingly, ignoring the two barrels so close to his eyes.

"I'd guessed, but thanks for reaffirmation," she growled. "Now answer my question before you're too hard up to speak."

"What's there to explain, chaton?" he asked. "I was coming back to you and I see men with guns firing at my darling–"

"Okay shut it," Shina ordered, praying that the warmth rising in her cheeks was going unnoticed or was at least contributed to the fact she was fighting. "Here," she thrust a third armament into Sy's hand, that had appeared seemingly out of nowhere. The young man looked her midriff exposing shirt and jacket over, as if trying to figure out where she'd hidden it. Shina paid him no mind as she jumped onto her feet. "I have a friend in there. Don't fuck this up." And she flung herself over the hummer once more, shooting one man in the head as her body rose into the air. Sy looked at the gun curiously for a second before shrugging, stuffing it into the waist of his jeans, and following Shina.

Meanwhile as Shina worked on her side, Nagi continued to crouch, waiting for the opportune moment to come up. Her chance came when, as she crawled towards the other side of the house, she heard someone yell "They're assaulting on the other side!"

"Go time," Nagi said to herself right before leaping up and out the already shattered window. Three men hit the ground at the same time she did. Two more followed while she took a running leap at an armored vehicle, heading for a gun turret perched on its hood. She dodged as the gunner inside the turret fired, trailing her closely as she sprinted around it, returning shots when she could. Nagi carried on with this circle for a minute or so before she became tired of the affair. Rolling close to the side of the vehicle Nagi remained in tight to the metal plating as she shimmed up to the hood, taking care to watch her back as she did. The Spurious had reached the top, and was half a second from swinging up herself up to blow the turret apart when a pair of elegant red nailed hands reached down and grabbed her roughly by the shoulders.

Nagi almost shriek as a pair of very delicate looking arms jerked her up so that she was level with the burning green eyes they were attached to. For a moment both Nagi and her captor wore masks of rage, ready to tear one another apart, when suddenly they recognized one another.

"Ms. Burtory?" Nagi said in amazement.

"Nagi?" Jenny returned, nearly dropping the brunette in surprise. Her awestruck lasted only a second. "Where is Shina?" the willowy blonde demanded, her grip on Nagi's upper arms once more becoming hard, her eyes slightly crazed. "Tell me! Was she in there with you? Is she all right? Where is my–"

"Oh would you calm the fuck down, Bat–ho?" a familiar voice demanded.

Both Jenny and Nagi looked surprisedly to the left where the leopardess had appeared, a tall dark haired man at her side. Shina and her companion both wore stains of fighting, particularly Shina, who's entire left side was washed with dark slick red.

"Shina!" Jenny exclaimed, releasing Nagi at once and jumping down of the hood. Nagi fell a bit awkwardly, noting as she did that the gun turret had been completely dismantled by the bat. The Spurious recovered quickly, following Jenny who'd without really thinking run up to Shina and embraced her.

"Thank goodness you're all right!" the older blonde exclaimed. "I was so worried! When I left Stun's–My, my, who's this?" Jenny's attention was suddenly on Sy who was watching both women with wide, curious eyes. The bat zoanthrope looked from her daughter to the young man several times, a slyphish little grin on her pouty lips.

"I'm Sy," the sole male told Jenny, a slight blush creeping into his face for the way she was eyeing the two younger people.

"A friend of yours, dear?" Jenny asked, a teasing gleam to her emerald eyes as they settled on Shina for a final time.

"Can it, Bat–ho, there's no time," Shina growled, praying that the warmth she felt rising in her face was _not _a blush (her chances of an allergic reaction were admittedly slim, but one could never call Shina Gado a complete pessimist). Her features suddenly became as stern and hard as her father's could be. "First and foremost, what about Stun? What's he got to do with this?"

"These–these same people, they attacked his school," Jenny told her breathlessly. They eyes of Shina and Nagi widened. "He got the children out but one of them–one was hit. She'll be fine, it was just a graze, but a doctor was needed of course, so I sent them to my jet and ordered a surgeon out there. I've already ordered the engines warmed. If we go now we can be out of this city before–"

"Okay, hold on a second!" Shina exclaimed holding up her hands. "If you hadn't guessed by what's happened here and at Stun's–I'm not gonna ask right now how you knew to come _here_–but there's some major shit going on, Burtory. And I am not leaving without Yugo, Long, Alice, or the kids. No way no how."

"Shina..." Jenny murmured, unable to disguise the worry in her voice.

"You heard me," Shina growled. "So if you want this to move along smoothly I suggest you cooperate." Blue eyes met green in staunch resolve, a hardness to the former's irises that the latter had seen before in another. Jenny started to comment on this but Shina had other plans.

"Nagi?" the tallest of the three women said, sky colored eyes flicking to her friend.

"Yeah, Shin?" she said, stepping a little closer, trying not to show too much interest on the silent battle going on between the two other women.

"You know where Long's Dojo is right?" she asked. "You've been told where it is and can find it?"

"Yeah..."

"Well get going," Shina ordered. "You and you–" her head swung back in Jenny's direction. "I'm not too worried about Tiger handling these morons, after all his line of work wasn't too different from mine at one point in time but right now he's got Uriko with him. Martial arts prodigy or not that girl won't know what in the hell to do about a gun pointed at her, and I don't even want to think about him keeping tabs on her while dealing with these sons a' bitches."

"Shina I'm not leaving–" Jenny started, hackles raised.

"Woman, if you even want me to consider leaving this city with your ass, after all the anger and resentment I've got for you, you need to shut up now!" Shina snarled, unwilling to be patient any longer. "My _friends _are out there! You know, the people who _haven't _lied to me!" Shina ignored the pain that flared in the eyes of the model, and the curious apprehension the Nagi and Sy stared at them with. She took a deep breath, doing her best not to force an apology out. "Now, would you please just go with Nagi, pick up Long and Uriko? I'll take Sy and we'll go grab Yugo, Alice, and Kenji, then will meet back at your jet. Where are you keeping it?"

"It's in the private airfields on the eastern side," Jenny told her, swallowing back her pride and perhaps a little more than she would let on. "Gate 673, I'll call to let them know you'll be along if I don't get there first."

"Okay," Shina said, relaxing just a hair. "Okay. Let's get going. I'm surprised the police haven't already gotten here. Nag?"

"Yeah?"

"Think you can drive that?" She pointed to the armored car. "There's a smaller one on the other side of the house, you could probably get farther with it than with the gun turret."

"That don't bother me, Shin," Nagi replied, nodding at the vehicle. "I can handle it. That is if you don't mind, Ms. Burtory?"

"I have complete confidence in your skills, yong lady," Jenny replied.

"Okay then, Sy, let's get moving," Shina said squaring up her shoulders and motioning to her dark haired companion.

"Whatever you say, _Chaton_," he replied practically trotting at her side.

Jenny turned to follow Nagi, but was stopped as Shina called to her once more.

"Hey, Burtory!" the younger woman's voice carried without ant particular bitterness across the distance and the bat zoanthrope twisted at the waist just a bit to look at her.

"Yes?"

"This doesn't change anything between us but...thanks." Shina's eyes were solemn, her plush lips set in a resigned line.

Jenny felt a great weight lift off her shoulders, so much that her body almost sagged. "You're welcome, Shina," she called back trying not to smile too broadly. They looked at one another for a few more seconds, both of them trying to say something with their eyes that they could not or would not admit to aloud. The moment was broken as Nagi managed to blow the door open on their ride and called for Jenny to hurry. Shina ran at the sound of her voice, disappearing behind the wall of her house, and Jenny watched her go, biting down on her lower lip as she did.

_I don't think I've ever been much of a praying woman, _Jenny said to herself as she joined Nagi. _But I suppose it's something you never really begin or end...so...here it goes... Keep her safe, that's all I want. Keep her safe, all that I've failed to do. I don't care about me or anything else, I just want to see her well when we meet again...My daughter is all that matters..._

**Interlude**

_Kish'hana_ Leila stood nude in the middle of her tent, looking over a black chest that was sitting before her. Her skin and hair were wet from the purification bath she had just taken, yet the feeling of being unclean covered her all the more. The sense intensified as she knelt before the chest, on a red silk matt, and placed her hands on either side of the chest. Long slender fingers pressed against the sides, searching for release buttons. They were found and very slowly pushed in so that Leila could open it.

She looked at the contents, finely crafted features blank with resignation, smooth shoulders square but not rigid. Black and steel glittered in her crystal blue eyes as she reached in to grab the mantle of the _Shai'daikour_. First it was a par of loose black leggings followed by a pair of soft soled black boots. Next she bound her chest with a long black ribbon, wrapping it over and around her breasts until her entire chest plate was covered. With that done she pulled on a long sleeved black wrap shirt, securing it tightly with an equally dark sash. She was almost done with her clothes now. Picking up one of four rather long and wide ribbons still laying within the chest she began to wind it between the fingers of her right hand and up her arm, clear to her elbow. Once it was in place she strapped on an elbow pad, ensuring that it would no come loose. She repeated this routine with her left arm and her legs, strapping her kneepads on with equal scrutiny.

Once she was fully dressed Leila turned to chest remaining contents that gleamed in the dim light of the single brazier in her tent. A few more moments and all that was left was a dagger in a beautifully polished red lacquered scabbard. This last item was tucked in her sash, almost proudly. She was almost finished.

Turning to her right Leila ambled gracefully over to a standing mirror and picked up a brush that lay upon a nearby cushion. Pulling back her damp black mane she wound it tight and coiled it atop her head before using another of her limitless supply of black ribbons to fasten it. Finally she returned to the chest, to the very last thing it contained, a black hood, and pulled it over her head, masking all but her penetrating eyes from the world.

She snapped the chest closed and pushed the flap of her tent back, stepping out into the open night air. Looking up at the stars Leila put one hand against her heart, giving up a silent apology and prayer, before running swiftly as her legs would allow away from the village of tents she had once faced, and towards the jungle behind her. She did not run very far, just a few hundred yards until the trees stopped to give way to a concrete pad where a black jet plane and two figures awaited, one of which was dressed exactly as she was. The second figure, a man who looked like Leila to a startling extent, was dressed in an arabic style dish'hada, his white arms crossed as he looked at her with almost sad crystal blue eyes.

"Before you scold me, _Kish'hana, _the Elder asked me to see you off," the man in white assured her. He smiled just a little. "Besides, did you really wish to go without saying goodbye to me?"

"I dream about it often,_ Kish'hanou_," was her soft reply, muffled by the folds of her mask. He saw the smile in her eyes and moved to embrace her warmly.

"Come back to me," he whispered in her ear as he held her close. "Come home. You know I'm lost without you here, my sister."

"Don't worry," she whispered back, a dull ache starting to rise in her chest as it always did when she was forced to part ways from the man in her arms. "I will uphold the _Sithan'kri _and return home to you, Jedda. I'm the best of the _Shai'daikour_ for a reason, you know."

"I do," he agreed and kissed the top of her head before letting her go.

"Goodbye, _Kish'hanou_," Leila said with a final wave before turning and beckoning to the second figure to board the plane. He nodded and Leila followed him, she was just closing the door of the jet when Jedda called out to her once more.

"Leila?"

"Yes?"

The look on Jedda's face became impish. "Tell Shina I said hi and I can't wait too se her soon."

Leila laughed outright at her brother. "I think you should tell her yourself," she replied. "After all, she can't very well punch _me _in the face for the look in _your _eyes, brother dear."

Jedda shared in his sister's smile, knowing very well that she was right.


End file.
